


She Will Be Loved

by fiftyshadesofstony, tonystarkssnipples



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2015-01-17
Packaged: 2018-02-26 20:52:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2665964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiftyshadesofstony/pseuds/fiftyshadesofstony, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonystarkssnipples/pseuds/tonystarkssnipples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All college freshman Tony Stark wanted was a date with the cute guy in his philosophy class, Steve Rogers. He eventually gets the date and a surprise along with it.</p><p>Steve’s year and a half old daughter, Coraline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> [Original Post](http://fiftyshadesofstony.tumblr.com/post/103107511875/clementines-feel-better-fic)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Chapters will be posted weekly on Saturdays but we were eager so here's the prologue.
> 
>  **Clementine (tony-starks-nipples)**  
>  It all started when I was under the weather and the beautiful and talented Emily (fiftyshadesofstony) came to me and offered to write me something. I fell so in love with what she'd written based off of my prompt that we ended up deciding to write a collaboration that has ended up being tens of thousands of words.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic and the journey of this little assbackwards relationship as much as I do.
> 
>  **Emily (fiftyshadesofstony)**  
>  This started as a little drabble written to make Clementine feel better, and somehow turned into this massive fic of just the best kind of awesomeness. Cora and these two idiots have managed to work their way into our hearts and hopefully after reading this, you'll feel the same.

“Pepper, I am so over this,” Tony huffed, exasperated, as he dropped his backpack by the table before falling onto the couch. Pepper was a sophomore and a year ahead of him. She had a nice suite on campus; the exact opposite Tony’s twelve-by-twelve concrete box of a dorm room.

“You seem to constantly be over a lot of things, Tony. Be a little more specific,” Pepper said around a laugh, as she curled up next to Tony with her cup of tea.

“That perfect little asshole from my philosophy class keeps resisting my advances. I mean, he’d have to be absolutely blind to not see that I’ve got a thing for him!”

Pepper just rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink.

“Maybe he’s not interested,” she offered, with a slight shrug. Tony looked at her, bewildered, and scoffed.

“Have you seen me lately? Of course he’s interested! Plus, I can tell he’s dying to flirt back he just… doesn’t.” Tony groaned and dropped his forehead to Pepper’s knee.

Tony had been harboring the biggest crush known to man on Steve, the aforementioned asshole, since day one of the semester. It took all the courage he had that first day to ask Steve to be in his group for the (stupid and pointless) semester-long research project, but ever since then Tony had been dropping hints left and right that he was a little more than interested in the blond. However, no matter how badly it seemed he wanted to, Steve never reciprocated.

Tony had been laying it on extra thick lately too: making sure to wear the most flattering, ass hugging jeans he had; sitting as close as humanly possible during study sessions; “accidentally” brushing up against Steve from time to time, and still, nothing. Had it not been for the fact that every so often, Tony would hear Steve’s breath hitch when they came in contact, or that he’d go red and instantly start clearing his throat at the onset of any flirting, Tony would have given up ages ago.

Maybe.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, babe,” Pepper said, nudging Tony off of her and readjusting to lay her legs across Tony’s lap, “But if you think it’s worth all this effort, why don’t you just come right out and ask him on a date?”

Tony sat in stunned silence as Pepper’s words sank in. He could have smacked himself for never thinking to do so before, but Tony resolved to ask Steve out the very next time he saw him.

* * *

 After two weeks of failed date proposals, Tony was frustrated beyond belief. All he wanted was to go on a nice date with this guy, but the world kept getting in his way.

The first time Tony tried, he just plain chickened out. Now that he had a plan to get with Steve, the prospect of being with Steve was terrifying.

The second time was a week later. Their group was supposed to meet in the library to work on the project but they had been the only people to show up. Tony was about to open his mouth, but the words _Will you go out with me_ died on his tongue when Steve got a text and quickly excused himself, apologizing over and over.

Finally, before anything could ruin his chances again, Tony jumped up the second the professor said they were excused and bolted over to Steve’s desk.

“We should go on a date,” Tony spat out, nervously.

“I um… what?” Steve asked, midway through packing up his things.

“We should… go on a date,” Tony said again, this time feeling more confident.

“It’s really sweet of you to ask, Tony…”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming.”

Steve sighed as he stood up. “But I don’t think it’d be a good idea…”

“Why not?” Tony asked, standing his ground. He’d gotten this far. “I’ve been flirting with you for weeks! You clearly want to flirt back, but you just don’t. It’s infuriating. Do I smell or something? No, I know the answer to that because I wear very expensive cologne, so it’s obviously not that. But, I do have to admit, your restraint and self control alone are pretty admirable and deserve a reward.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “What kind of reward?”

“A date with me.” Tony winked and flashed his best smile as Steve looked him over. All Steve could do was let out a small laugh before shaking his head.

“You know what… yeah. We can go on a date,” Steve said, as he began to walk towards the door.

“We can?” Tony asked, running after the blond. Steve stopped to hold the door open and smiled.

“Yeah. You said it yourself, I earned it.”

* * *

* * *

The following Saturday, Tony picked Steve up for an afternoon spent at the local natural history museum followed by a late lunch. As they sat down to eat together, Steve couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear.

“What’s that goofy grin for?” Tony asked, taking a sip of his soda. His cup was almost empty and he played up the obnoxious slurping sound.

“It’s been a long time and… I’m just really glad that we did this.” Steve spoke quietly.

Before Tony had a chance to express the same sentiment, Steve’s phone rang. Tony tried not to eavesdrop, but the second he took a look at Steve’s face, he knew something was wrong.

“I’m really sorry but I need to leave,” Steve said, jumping to his feet once the call was over.

“Is everything alright?” Tony questioned, throwing a few bills on the table before following behind his date.

“Yeah, uh I just… can you take me back to my apartment?” Steve asked, quickly getting into Tony’s car.

“Sure thing,” Tony offered.

Tony wanted desperately to ask what was wrong, but it was obvious Steve didn’t want to share. Every so often, he’d glance at Steve. Eventually Tony gave in and attempted to make small talk.

“So, you don’t live on campus?” Tony offered.

“You picked me up at my _apartment_ and you’re bringing me back to my _apartment_. So no, I do not live on campus,” Steve snapped. “No, wait, I’m so sorry. That was rude.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not my place.”

When they got to the apartment, Tony looked for a place to park. Steve assured him it would be okay to just drop him off at the front of the building. The moment Tony put the car in park, Steve took off his seatbelt.

“Seriously, you don’t have to come,” Steve said, somewhat nervously, before getting out of the car.

“I just want to make sure everything’s okay before I head out,” Tony said, as he chased after Steve on their way to the apartment building.

As they got closer, Tony noticed a young woman standing with a sleeping child on her hip. He paid little attention to her until she started walking towards them. It became obvious, fairly quickly, that she had been waiting for them.

“Oh my gosh, Steve, I am so sorry about this,” the woman said with a British accent. “I know it’s not your weekend, but Sharon called. Nana fell and she can’t take care of her on her own.”

Tony ran through what the woman had said, as she gingerly handed the sleeping girl off to Steve. The child, more of a baby really, had the same dark brown curls as her mother.

“Peg, it’s fine, really. Go make sure Nana and Sharon are alright. I’ll keep her as long as you need me to.” Steve said, taking a bag of what Tony could only assume were items for the child. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, as ‘Peg’ finally turned to look at him.  

“Hi, I’m Peggy,” She said, smiling as she extended her hand.

“I’m Tony, nice to meet you,” he said, smiling nervously, as he shook her hand.

“Ah, so you’re Tony?” Peggy said with an unsubtle glance at Steve. “Well, I’m sorry that we’re meeting under these circumstances, but it was nice to meet you,” Peggy offered while digging her keys out of her purse.

“Thanks, and I hope your, uh, Nana gets better soon,” Tony spoke, still trying to make sense of this.

How did she know who he was? Who was she to Steve and why was she dropping off a child with him?

Peggy waved as she left the two men standing with the little girl. Tony turned to look at Steve, but before he could speak the little girl woke up. She extended her hand to grab Steve’s nose and as she did so, Steve let out a small sigh.

“Well, Tony now that we’re all here I guess it’s as good a time as any to introduce you to Coraline… my daughter.” He bounced the child gently. “Say hi, Cora.”

She shook her head and buried her face in Steve’s neck. Tony hadn’t registered anything after _my daughter_.

* * *

Once in Steve’s living room, Tony tried to take in all of what he had just learned. Coraline, “Cora” as Steve affectionately called her, was Steve and Peggy’s year and a half old daughter. They’d decided after their junior prom that they wanted to lose their virginities to someone special, but thanks to a lack of any real planning in terms of birth control, Peggy ended up getting pregnant. They’d both taken a year off between high school and college, which explained why Steve was nineteen at the start of his freshman year.

“We’ve been trying to take care of Cora as best we can for people in our situation,” Steve explained. Coraline was on the floor in front of them, playing with blocks. “Peggy lives at home with her sister, Sharon, and Grandma, so they’re able to help look after Cora while she takes night classes for nursing school. Then she comes to visit me every other weekend. That’s why the school allowed to let me live off campus as a freshman. You know, so I could take care of my daughter. I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like to, but I always have to remind myself that I’m doing this for her,” Steve said. He got down on the floor with her and took her in his arms. She giggled wildly and pretended to fight her way out of Steve’s grip.

Tony couldn’t believe that someone so young could be such an amazing father. Just looking at Steve and Coraline together, he could see the absolute love and adoration the two of them had for one another.

“Dada m’hungy,” Coraline chirped, throwing her hands up. Steve just smiled down at her before putting her back on the floor and standing to make her a snack.

“So…I’d definitely understand if you wanted to call it quits,” Steve spoke quietly as he rummaged around the kitchen. Tony could barely hear him, as he was still sitting on the couch, watching Cora stack her blocks intently. She might have Peggy’s curls, but she had Steve’s crystal blue eyes.

“Why would I want to do that?” Tony asked, cautiously moving to the floor to play with Coraline.

“I’m nineteen and I have a daughter. That’s a lot more than most people want to take on when they start dating someone.”

He considered everything about the day that they had spent together. Steve was an absolutely amazing guy, but was he really ready to date a man with a child?

Coraline hobbled over to Tony. She put her pudgy hand on his face.

“Hi,” she said, then began to giggle uncontrollably. Tony couldn’t take his eyes off of the little girl. When he finally looked away, he noticed that Steve was standing behind the couch, holding a plate of apple slices, smiling down at them.

“Really, Tony, if…if you’re not interested, it’s ok. Really, I mean, I get it.” Steve stuttered, putting the plate on the floor in front of Coraline.

“You know Steve,” Tony started as he pulled himself off of the floor. These pants were made to make his ass look good, not made for floor sitting. “I’ve been trying to get you to go out with me for far too long to just run away now. Plus, wouldn’t you know it, turns out I’ve got a thing for tall, blond, blue eyed college hotties with super adorable year and a half old daughters.”

They were so close, Steve could feel Tony’s breath on his face. He searched Tony’s eyes for any uncertainties, but when he realized there was nothing but sincerity behind Tony’s words, he captured the brunet’s face in his hands.

“May I?” he asked, before leaning in.

“Hel-eck yes,” Tony corrected himself. No swearing in front of the B-A-B-Y.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here's](http://tony-starks-nipples.tumblr.com/coraline%20picture) what she looks like, in case you were wondering


	2. Freshman Year; Semester One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a possibly offensive joke during a Cards Against Humanity game. Please don't take it too seriously. It's all in good fun.
> 
>  **Clementine (tony-starks-nipples)**  
>  Woah, okay. So here we are, chapter one! Please don't expect all of the chapters to be this long. We'd love to make them that way, but there's no way we'd be able to stay on schedule ^^;
> 
>  **Emily (fiftyshadesofstony)**  
>  Thanks sooooooo much to everybody for all of your kind words and kudos!!!! I'm super excited to finally be posting the first chapter so I hope you guys enjoy this labor of love and awesomeness!!!

Steve hadn’t been on a date in, oh, two-ish years? He and Peggy… they weren’t meant to end up together. They’d broken up before they’d found out she was pregnant and decided getting back together for the sake of the child would just complicate things more than it would fix them.

Now, here was Tony. Tony who took Coraline in stride. Tony who got on the floor and played with his daughter. Tony who was clearly terrified and out of his league. But he’d let Steve kiss him and said he wasn’t going to bolt.

Steve wanted to believe that with all of his heart.

His phone, which was sitting on the table in front of him, vibrated.

 

* * *

Tony was _freaking_ out. Sure, he’d been pretty calm that first day, but it hadn’t really sunk in. The guy he had a soul-crushing crush on had a kid. Tony’d done the math. Seventeen. Steve had been _seventeen_ when he found out he was going to be a father.

Tony had -2% experience dealing with children. His dad hadn’t even let him be a child when he was a child. How the fuck was he supposed to interact with one?

His hands tightened around the steering wheel. It was okay. He was going to talk about this with Steve. Things would… things would be okay. Okay-ish. Maybe.

When he got to Steve’s apartment, he rested his forehead on the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths. What if this was Steve breaking up with him? He had said _We need to talk_.

Eventually, he got the balls to get out of the car and to the front of Steve’s building. Steve buzzed him in and he made his way up the three flights of stairs. Stairs took longer than the elevator. Stairs gave him time to think.

“Hey!” Steve greeted when he swung the door open. That was not the face of someone trying to call something off.

“Coraline here yet?” Tony asked. When Steve said no, he had to fight the urge to say _Good_.

“I can make us some lunch, if you’d like,” Steve offered. Tony nodded, not saying a word. He took his jacket off and hung it on the hook by the door.

After hanging up his coat, he followed Steve into the kitchen.

“Sandwiches okay?” Steve asked. Tony nodded halfheartedly. “Are you alright?”

“Am I here for you to break up with me?”

“What? _No_! Why would you even think that?”

“You said ‘We need to talk’. Those are break up words.”

Steve shook his head. “No. I’m not going to break up with you. You asked what Peggy meant and I figured I should tell you the whole story.”

“Oh, okay.”

Steve chewed on his lip while he worked on the sandwiches. “See, I resisted your advances because I figured that you wouldn’t want to take on someone with the kind of baggage I have. And I hate to use that word because Coraline is in no way a burden to me. At all. But I’ve learned that the idea drives people away. I liked you too much for that. I’d rather have you flirt with me and turn you down, than have you run away and act all weird because of it.

“That didn’t mean that I didn’t like you. Oh god, you have _no idea_ how much I like you. I told everyone about you, Peggy included. The night before I agreed to go out on a date with you, she’d yelled at me. She told me that if I liked someone as much as I like you I shouldn’t let anything get in my way. She said it was obvious that you liked me back. So… I agreed.”

Tony let that sink in. Steve liked him _that much_. “So you turned me down for my own good?”

“When you say it like that--”

“I get it. Thanks for your concern. But…” Tony sighed. He was really about to do this. “But I want to be a part of your life and your life comes with Cora.”

The knife Steve had been using to spread mayonnaise on the sandwiches clattered to the counter. “Fucking hell, I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Then kiss me.”

* * *

“Knock knock,” Peggy called as she let herself in.

Peggy watched as Tony’s head shot up over the couch, his hair a wreck. Steve popped up shortly after, the motion causing Tony to roll onto the floor.

“Nice to see you haven’t mucked this one up yet, Steve.” Peggy pulled the stroller holding Cora through the door before shutting it behind her. “Must be nice to be horizontal again. Hello, Tony.”

Tony jumped up and fixed

his shirt, which was hiked up in the back. “Nice to see you, too. Uh, Peggy.” Tony glanced at his phone. Had they really been making out for two hours? It had felt like minutes. “I think I should leave.”

Tony was halfway out the door when Coraline made a sound. Tony turned around to see the baby’s eyes trained on him.

“‘Member yew,” Cora murmured. “‘ony.”

“Yeah, kid. I’m Tony.”

“‘M Cowa.”

“Yeah. You’re Cora.”

* * *

 

* * *

  


* * *

 

“He has a _KID_?!” Pepper and Rhodey asked in unison.

Tony just took a sip of his latte and smiled looking at his friends. “Yep, Steve’s got a daughter to be specific. A Coraline, even more specifically.”

“Are you… that’s okay with you?” Pepper asked, still in shock.

Tony tossed that question around his head. After his little conversation with Cora, Tony knew that he wanted these people in his life. Though Tony had no idea what he was getting into, dating a teenager with a daughter, he knew he was making the right choice.

Tony knew this was only going to work if he got Cora’s approval, and he wanted nothing more than to get it. Not just because he wanted to date Steve, but because he… there weren’t really words for what he felt for Cora. He’d only met her twice--that first day and their brief conversation earlier--but he wanted to do good by her and her father. Though he barely knew her, he wanted her in his life. He knew he could work his way into Steve’s heart easily, the fact that he’d even gotten a date out of the man was proof enough of that. But to get an almost two-year-old to like him was another challenge entirely.

Tony was terrified of her.

“Yeah, actually. I mean, obviously most kids our age wouldn’t think twice about running from a situation like this, but I’m a Stark, and I don’t run from anything, so, you know, this kind of thing is right up my alley.”

“Oh please,” Rhodey interjected as he rolled his eyes,“I saw you run crying and screaming because there was a spider in our bathroom just yesterday.”

“Excuse you, that fucker was huge and clearly after my life so don’t even go there,” Tony responded, attempting to sound offended, and failing miserably.

He couldn’t help but smile, as he considered all that he had in his life. Not only were Pepper and Rhodey the greatest best friends he could have ever asked for, but now Steve and Coraline were kind of a thing he had (it looked like it would get there, at least). He never really considered himself fortunate for most of the things that he had in life, but for the first time in a long time, Tony truly felt like the luckiest man alive.

* * *

Steve sat in his living room, surrounded by his best friends and Chinese takeout. Now that things seemed to be getting serious, he’d decided to invite Bucky, Natasha, and Sam over to tell them all about Tony.

“So… does he know yet?” Bucky asked, digging through his container of food.

“Yep,” Steve uttered around a mouthful of lo mein noodles.

“And he’s ok with the fact that you’re a nineteen year old father?” Natasha asked, while trying to mooch off of Bucky’s rice. As he swatted her hand away, she jabbed him in the side with one of her chopsticks before going back in.

“Mmhmm.” Steve offered, seemingly more interested in shoveling food in his face than answering his friend’s questions.

“You’re sure he’s okay with it?” Sam asked, looking around the table and sharing a concerned look with the rest of the group.

Though it seemed like Steve was put out by the barrage of questions, he was genuinely grateful for friends that wanted nothing more than to look out not only for him but Cora too.

“Yeah, guys he’s fine with the fact that I have a daughter. The first day they met, he didn’t even bat an eyelash. He just jumped right in. I mean… I’ve given him plenty of opportunities to walk away from this, but he’s always adamant that he wants to stay. Sure, there’s still a chance that he might change his mind, but it really doesn’t seem like it.”

Steve looked around the room to see all of his friends exchanging looks amongst each other. He couldn’t help but wish he could read their minds as it seemed that they were all somehow silently communicating. After a long moment, Bucky finally turned toward Steve and smiled.

“Well, if you say he’s a good guy, then we’re happy for you. We’ll have to meet him, of course to make sure he’s not just fucking around and all.”

“Fair enough… just don’t do that thing where you get super overprotective and embarrassing,” Steve said, practically pleading with his friends.  

“Stevie, all we know how to do is be overprotective and embarrassing, you know that,” Natasha offered sweetly.

Steve just smiled and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help but feel thankful that he had such amazing people in his life that wanted him to be happy. He was nervous for his friends to meet Tony, but he had no doubt that it wouldn’t take long for him to win them over.

“So,” Bucky said, throwing his chopsticks down on the table and rubbing his hands together. “Who’s up for some Cards Against Humanity?” 

Steve shook his head. “That always get’s really loud and Cora’s already down for the night.”

Bucky whined. “C’mooooon. I promise I’ll be quiet. I swear I’ll be quiet.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow. “You know how to be quiet?”

“Yes,” Bucky scoffed at the same time Nat chuckled out a, “No.”

“Ew,” Sam said. “You two are gross.”

“Thanks,” Bucky said, leaning over and giving Natasha an unnecessarily sloppy kiss.

“Asshole,” Natasha said, shoving him away.

“I’ll get the cards,” Steve groaned, getting up.

Things were relatively quiet until Steve paired “What gives me uncontrollable gas” and “Auschwitz”, which caused Bucky to have a meltdown of laughter, and ended the game because Steve had to go sooth Coraline in the next room.

Steve won the point, Sam won the game.

* * *

Steve had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off all afternoon, as he tried to get the apartment ready. On top of having his first real date night with Tony, Peggy had called to tell Steve that he'd need to take Cora again for the weekend.

He had had plans to catch up on some school work and just relax, maybe even spend some time with his friends on top of hanging out with Tony, but all of that went out the window the second Peggy asked for his help. As frustrating as it was that she seemed to be asking this of Steve more and more, he couldn't be too upset. At the end of the day, it just meant he got to spend more time with Coraline.

Steve had just barely finished setting up the table before he heard a knock at the door. He quickly moved to open it and felt the air knocked out of his lungs as he took in the sight of Tony. The brunet was wearing a red button down shirt, sleeves rolled up, with a yellow skinny tie and dark fitted jeans. It took a moment of just shamelessly gaping at the man before Steve was able to actually speak.

“Hi,” he said, breathlessly. Tony just smiled at him, brushing a hand over Steve’s arm as he walked into the apartment.

“Well, maybe I should wear this more often if that’s the kind of reaction I’m going to get.”

“I definitely wouldn’t be mad about that,” Steve said, brain finally working again. He took notice of the fact that Tony seemed a little surprised by the set up he’d put together.

“Did you do all of this yourself?” Tony asked, looking around at the candles and the nice dishes set out.

“Sure did! I was always responsible for setting the table during holidays at home, so I’ve learned a thing or two about presentation. Anyway, take a seat, and I’ll get the food out.”

It didn’t take too long for Steve to bring out the whole spread. Being a college kid on a budget, there was really only so much he could make. Regardless, he was still proud of what he had put together. He laid out the chicken and creamy garlic pasta, salad, and warm rolls before pouring some Coke into the nicest cups he had.

“All this for lil ol’ me? Steven, you shouldn’t have,” Tony said, batting his lashes, as he piled some chicken and pasta onto his plate.

“Well, I figured it’s the least I can do to make up for the fact that we don’t really get this weekend to ourselves. Plus, I figure you’ll keep coming back if I keep feeding you,” Steve offered, taking a bite of his salad.

“Keep feeding me like this and I’ll probably never leave this apartment!” Tony spoke around a mouthful of food.

Steve tried not to stare, but he continuously found that he couldn’t take his eyes off of Tony. Even while eating, his movements seemed so fluid and graceful. Steve couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to draw this man in motion.

They sat through the rest of their meal, quietly exchanging glances and small smiles. Once they were finished, Tony offered to wash the dishes while Steve set up a movie for them to watch. Tony finally joined Steve on the couch, as the movie began playing.

“ _The Dark Knight_? Really?” Tony asked around a laugh.

 “It’s a great movie! Plus, I figure we’ve both probably seen it enough times that neither of us would mind if we missed anything,” Steve said, hoping that he wasn’t being too forward. It’d been a long time since he had dated anyone, let alone had the opportunity for anything physical. That wasn’t all Tony was to Steve but he’d be lying if he said that wasn’t something he wanted.

“Well, as compelling as this movie is, I’d be willing to miss a little of it, for the right distraction…” Tony offered, moving to be as close to Steve as possible without actually sitting on him.

It was only a matter of seconds before Steve felt Tony’s lips on his own. Initially, his intentions were innocent, all he wanted was to just kiss Tony for a moment or two, but before he knew it, Steve had lifted the brunet into his lap, hands resting on his hips, as he deepened the kiss. To have the weight of Tony’s body on him felt amazing, and Steve wanted nothing more than to take as much as Tony was willing to give.

After what felt like hours, Steve finally had to come up for air. When he did, he took in the site of Tony's kiss swollen lips and disheveled clothing. His hands were resting on the shorter man's ass, though he didn't remember placing them there.

While Tony struggled to catch his breath, Steve couldn't help but be turned on by it all. In that instant he wanted more of the Tony he saw in front of him.  As he leaned in for another kiss, Tony put his hand up to stop him.

"Is something wrong?" Steve asked, suddenly worried that he'd gone too far.

"If by 'wrong' you mean 'absolutely amazing', then yes," Tony said, resting his forehand against Steve's before taking in a deep breath. "I think it's safe to say that you are the best kisser I've ever met, and please believe me when I tell you that I would _love_ to take this farther. I just… I like you a lot Steve, and I want to make sure that we do this right. I don't want to just jump into something like this and make it all about the physical stuff before we're ready."

Steve didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or amazed. He wanted Tony, there was no doubt about that, but if he’d learned anything in his nineteen years of living, it was that people who truly cherished the physical aspects of their relationship were few and far between.

“I’m really lucky that I get to call you mine,” Steve whispered, gently kissing Tony’s temple.

“Lucky? I’m sure there are plenty of people that would beg to differ.”

“Well, pardon my French, but anyone who disagrees can fuck off… ‘cause they’re wrong,” Steve offered, moving to lay down on the couch with Tony’s head resting on his chest.

“You are doing amazing things for my ego” Tony said around a smile.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep the compliments to a minimum so your ego won’t get too out of hand.”

“Have you been talking to Pepper? Because that’s a very Pepper thing to say,” Tony said, raising his head to question Steve. “If so, ignore everything she said about me… unless she said good things. In which case, believe everything she said.”

“Shut up and watch the movie, babe.” Steve laughed as he ruffled Tony’s hair.

* * *

 “So...let me get this straight. You could have gotten laid last night but _you_ put on the brakes?”

Tony stood beside his friend Bruce as he paid for his lunch. Once they finally found a table at the on campus deli, Tony responded to the question with a shrug.

“Yeah… it really seemed like Steve wanted to go a lot farther than just kissing, but I figured it’d be better if we waited.”

“Who are you?” Bruce asked around a small laugh.

“I don’t know, man! I’ve been with guys kind of like him before; guys who are smart, funny, charming, and just absolutely gorgeous. But this time it’s just… different,” Tony said, taking a bite of the extra pickle on Bruce’s tray.

“Why’s that?” Bruce asked, making a disapproving face as his pickle was stolen. It took Tony a moment to really consider his answer.

“As horrible as it sounds, I just didn’t care with all the other guys. I mean, I wasn’t much concerned with what was going on in their lives outside of what we were doing. But with Steve, I… I want to know what makes him tick. I want to know his favorite color and what he was afraid of as a kid. I want to know what his pet peeves are and what his favorite ice cream flavor is. And don’t even get me started on Coraline, I just… I want to know everything about them. What’s with the weird smile?” Tony asked, slightly startled by the look on Bruce’s face.

"Anthony Edward Stark, are you in love?”

“First of all, I’ve been dating the guy for like five seconds, so no. Second, you’re the one throwing around the L-word, not me… but if that’s what you want to call it, I won’t stop you.”

Tony didn’t want to admit it, but he truly was falling for Steve, fast. Truth be told, the thought of being in love seemed terrifying, but to think that Steve might one day be in love with him was exhilarating.

“What time is it?” Tony asked, quickly snapping out of his thoughts. Bruce finished off the last of his sandwich before checking his watch.

“It’s almost three.”

“Ah, well I’ve got to go. Cora’s coming over today, and I promised I’d be around to play with her while Steve got some homework done.”

Tony couldn’t help but notice the look that Bruce gave him, as he moved to leave.

“Brucie, I swear, you’re lucky that you’re one of my favorites.”

“Good bye, Tony,” Bruce spoke, shaking his head and smiling. On his way out, Tony could have sworn he heard Bruce whisper “Say hi to Cora and your _love_ for me!”

* * *

“‘gen! Wa’ go ‘gen!”

“Alright, hold on tight, Cora!”

Tony waited patiently on all fours, as Cora moved to tighten her hold around his neck.

“Ready?” Tony asked, turning his head to catch a glimpse of the little girl on his back

“YEAH!” Cora answered enthusiastically.

“Alright. Get ready to ride in 3-2-1!” Tony took off across the floor as fast as he could, bucking up every once in a while, and neighing like a wild horse.

Tony was a natural around Cora. Of course he was always nervous that he’d fuck everything up somehow, but really all he had to do was the complete opposite of everything his father did and he’d be fine.

As he continued to cart Cora around the room, Tony couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching him. He turned to see Steve sitting at the kitchen table with the most fond smile plastered on his face.

“Hey Cora, look, your daddy’s over there! Should we ride over to him and show him how great you are at riding ponies?” Tony asked.

“Yes, pwease,” Cora responded before yawning. Tony could tell she was getting tired, so he made sure to take it easy as he moved across the living room to sit right in front of Steve.

“Hey there, nugget, you ready for a nap?” Steve asked, plucking Cora right off of Tony’s back. She just rubbed her eyes and nodded before resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’ll be right back,” Steve mouthed. As he moved to put Cora to sleep, Tony couldn’t help but swoon over the sight in front of him.

Coraline was quite possibly the most adorable person that Tony had ever seen, and getting the chance to play with her was honestly the highlight of his week. But getting to see Steve like this, taking such good care of Cora so effortlessly, was amazing.

“You’re really good with her, you know,” Steve spoke, once he quietly shut Cora’s bedroom door behind him.

“You think so?” Tony asked, trying not to sound as self-conscious as he felt.

Steve slowly wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist, pulling him in for a small kiss. “Yeah, I think so. Cora thinks so too, she absolutely adores you,” he whispered, before going in for another kiss.

“She does? Hmm, and how do you feel about me?” Tony asked, wrapping his arms around the blond’s neck.

Steve pulled back to look Tony up and down before giving a shrug. “Ehh, you’re alright, I suppose,” he deadpanned. Tony barked out a laugh before throwing a soft punch at Steve’s chest.

“On that note, I’m gonna let you get back to your boring homework, while I sit here and have fun watching _Family Feud_ ,” Tony said, moving away to sit on the couch. Steve just smiled, shaking his head and went back to the kitchen table to finish his work.

Tony tried to sit there as silently as possible while the families answered obscure questions, but it was only a matter of minutes before he was yelling at the TV.

“Nipples! Come _on_ it’s up there! Someone say it. NIPPLES!” Tony yelled, then retracted, hoping he hadn’t woken up Cora.

“You alright over there babe?” Steve asked, slightly concerned.

“The question is ‘What gets harder as it gets colder’ and I promise you, nipples is up there,” Tony answered without taking his eyes off the TV. Once someone finally listened to his suggestion, Tony sat on the edge of his seat waiting to see if he was correct. As the screen turned to show the word, he jumped up and began to dance.

“Let me guess, ‘nipples’ was up there?” Steve asked, amusement evident in his voice. Tony just sat down calmly before turning to look at him with a straight face.

“You, my friend, need to stay focused on your homework. Remember, people who think I’m just ‘alright’ don’t get to have fun with me and Mr. Harvey.”

Tony turned back to the TV, feeling proud, as he heard the sounds of Steve failing to stifle a laugh.

* * *

Steve was horizontal on the couch, Cora asleep on his chest, his head resting in Tony’s lap. Tony was idly playing with his hair. The boys were dozing, slipping in and out of consciousness. Tony’s pocket vibrated, startling both he and Steve. He fished it out and saw…

Oh.

His finger hovered over _Ignore_ , but that pesky part of his brain that hoped for acceptance from him took over.

“I have to take this, honey,” Tony said, gently easing himself out from under Steve.

“Okay.”

Tony excused himself out into the hallway. “Hello, father,” Tony answered coolly.

“Anthony. I’m calling because I need you to tell me what you intend to do for the Thanksgiving holiday break. Should I have someone prepare your room?”

Awesome. Howard had done something to his room.

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

“Where will you be staying? Not in that concrete box of a dorm room. I will never understand what that idiotic university of yours won’t let someone of your talent live in a better dorm.”

“No, I will be staying at my boyfriend’s apartment.”

“Anthony, I would have thought you’d have got that experimentation out of your system in high school.”

Tony knew better than to fight back. They’d had this argument far too many times. Even though he knew better, that didn’t stop him from defending Steve. “Steve isn’t some ‘experiment’. He is my boyfriend and I _love_ him.”

“What do you know about love? You’re a child.”

“What do I know about love? I don’t know, _Howard_ , but I know that you don’t love me. I know that you don’t love Ma. I know that you told her not to love me. I haven’t known Steve that long but I have never been happier with any other human being in my entire life.”

“Have you had sex with this man?”

“No, I have not.”

“Then how do you know you love him?”

“Because sex is not love. There is a distinctive difference between love and lust and Steve is more than just some guy I want to fuck. He is important to me.”

There was a long pause. “There is a call on the other line. I must take it. We can discuss this when we go to Florence at Christmastime.”

“We’re doing _what_?” Tony asked.

“Do you think just because you’re away at school that you are not going to be held to the same family expectations as in years previous? You are a Stark by blood and you will join your mother and I in Italy, end of story. Now I really must go.”

And the line was dead.

Tony stood silent for a few moments just staring at the wall, prepping himself to go back into the room. He’d never said he’d loved Steve before, but he never denied it when Bruce asked after that first ‘real’ date. The moment he’d said it, though, he’d known.

He was in love with Steve.

* * *

Thanksgiving at the Carters’ was nice. Tony had never really been one for turkey, but he ate it because he was a guest and Nana had made it taste somewhat decent. Never had Tony done the ‘I’m Thankful For’ thing at the beginning of Thanksgiving meal, so when Nana started, he panicked.

“I’m thankful for Steve,” he blurted out, then nudged his boyfriend to continue and take the attention off of himself. Tony only liked attention when he could control it.

Steve and Peggy took turns feeding Coraline mashed potatoes and little bits of turkey.

“Tony, can you pass the grav--” Steve’s sentence was cut off when a glob of mashed potatoes hit the side of his face. Tony held back his laughter, knowing it would only encourage Cora to do it again.

“Okay, nugget, time for bed,” Steve said after he wiped the potato from his face.

“I don’t like you calling her that,” Nana said as Peggy reached into the highchair to pluck the dozing baby out. “Her name is Coraline. You named her Coraline. You should call her Coraline.”

“‘M nug’it,” she mumbled, eyelids drooping, head falling against Peggy’s shoulder.

“Daddy’s little nugget,” Steve cooed, kissing her cheek. “Go up with mommy and go to sleep.”

“Love yew, dada,” she slurred, rubbing her eyes. “Love yew, ‘ony.”

* * *

Coraline stayed with Peggy, Sharon, and Nana that night, leaving the apartment to Steve and Tony. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before Tony was straddling Steve on the bed.

Tony pulled Steve’s shirt up and off, revealing a small tattoo along his clavicle.

“Coraline, March 1st,” Tony read, running his fingers across the words, stopping at the baby feet below them.

“That is actually what her feet looked like the day she was born. Size and everything. I brought the certificate with me when I went to get it done.”

“They're so tiny,” Tony whispered, circling the footprints with his finger.

“I know.”

“I have one of those tattoo thingies,” Tony said, hiking up his shirt in the front to reveal his hip. There was a small dandelion puff, blowing away, seed trailing across his left hip. “Got it when I was sixteen.”

Steve ran the pad of his thumb across it, causing a shiver to run down Tony’s spine. “Is there a significance?”

“There’s not one in particular, but when I got it I was kind of thinking of the permanence of wishes. I don’t know. It made sense when I got it. But in the past two years, I’ve kind of also realized that it means you have to make your own wishes come true, you know? Like, the seeds are stuck forever, they’re not going to move. So we’re back to permanence. I still really love it. Am I rambling? I feel like I’m rambling…”

“Only a little,” Steve said, helping Tony pull his shirt the rest of the way off. “But I like it. It’s you.”

“Thanks,” Tony admitted, bashfully. He leaned forward and kissed Coraline’s name. “And this one is you.”

What started as a chaste kiss to the tattoo turned into a trail of biting and licking and sucking as Tony worked his way across Steve’s neck and chest, leaving hickey after hickey. Steve was helpless to do anything else besides hold onto Tony’s hips, rubbing the tattoo with his thumb.

Tony made his way down until he was at the top of Steve’s jeans. They hadn’t done anything besides kissing since their adventure during _The Dark Knight_ and Tony was afraid that if they started, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, and he wasn’t ready to do that with Steve. Not yet.

“Why are you stopping?” Steve asked, looking at Tony, pupils blown wide.

“You have to promise me something, Steve.”

“Anything.”

“If I do this, you have to promise me that you won’t push me to have sex. Not tonight.”

“Is there… is there some reason that you don’t want to have sex with me?” Steve asked, sounding somewhat hurt.

“No! No, baby, no. Nothing like that,” Tony surged forward and kissed Steve. “I’ve had sex. I’ve had a _lot_ of sex--”

“And you don’t think I’ll measure up?”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean,” Tony groaned and rubbed at his eyes. “I’ve never l… I’ve never felt like… there wasn’t ever any, uh… You know what? I can’t think of a good reason not to do this.” Tony stopped himself from babbling, slid down Steve, and palmed at his crotch. “That is, if I have your permission.”

Steve made a squeaking sound and nodded, and Tony took that as his invitation to unbutton, unzip, and pull down Steve’s jeans. Steve lifted his hips off of the bed to make it easier for Tony to get his pants off.

“No sex, though.”

“No sex,” Steve confirmed.

With that, Tony slowly slid the waistband of Steve’s boxer-briefs down until his cock was uncovered, pressed against his belly, flushed red.

“Christ, Steve, your dick is perfect.”

“It’s… it’s just a dick.”

"Nope, nuh-uh. It is not _just a dick_. This is the kind of dick that symphonies are written about. This is the kind of dick that porn stars dream of having. This, my dear Steven, is art and I would very much like to put it in my mouth.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. What did you think I was going to do?” Tony asked, readjusting himself on the bed and giving Steve’s cock a few quick strokes.

“I figured you’d just give me a handjob.”

“With my face down here?” Tony continued to rub up and down Steve’s cock.

“I--I don’t know,” Steve choked out. “Peggy thought they were gross.”

“So you’ve never gotten a blow-job before?” Tony seemed almost offended by the information.

“Nope. I’m a blow-job virgin.”

“Steve, honey, I’m not sure how to tell you this, but you are not a virgin. You gave up that title when you had a _child_.”

“Please just suck my dick!” Steve whined. “Wait, was that too crass?”

“Just shut up, baby, and let me make you feel good.”

Steve let out a pitiful whine when Tony licked up the underside of his cock. He circled his tongue around the head, making Steve squirm, then took him wholly into his mouth. Steve bucked up Tony could feel the head of Steve’s cock pressing against the back of his throat. Years of giving head had prepared him for this moment.

Using one hand to cup Steve’s balls, he took the other and ran soothing circles on Steve’s hip with his thumb. Every so often, Tony would pull back and place a kiss to the inside of Steve’s thigh.

“Baby, baby, baby,” Steve chanted, tugging at Tony’s hair. “I’m gonna come.”

“Then come,” Tony said as he fisted the base of Steve’s cock and continued to suck the head.

“I-in your mouth?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Tony answered, once again swallowing Steve down. The vibration from his throat is what finally pushed Steve over the edge. When he was done riding the aftershocks of his orgasm, he shakily cupped Tony’s face with his hands and guided him so they were face to face.

“You probably don’t want to kiss me right now,” Tony said.

“How do you know what I want?”

“Because no one wants to taste their own jizz?”

Steve nervously chuckled and let go of Tony’s face. “Yeah, thanks for the headsup.”

“Not a problem, Steve my dearest.” Tony kissed Steve on his cheek.

“Oh!” Steve blurted. “And I forgot to tell you that I love you, too.”

“Too?” Tony asked, throat going dry.

“The other day on the phone you told someone you loved me. I wanted to wait for the perfect moment to tell you that I loved you, too, but then we started talking about my jizz and--”

“Steve, shh, it’s okay. I love you, too.”

“I love you,” Steve whispered, grabbing Tony’s hand and kissing his knuckles.

“I love you, too.”

“I love you.”

Tony smiled and shook his head. “I love you, too. Let’s get some sleep.”

* * *

“For the last time, you look fine Steve!”

“I can’t have Tony meeting everyone while I look like shit, Sam! Everything has to be perfect today,” Steve said, frantically searching for a new shirt to wear. He knew the day would come when his friends would finally meet Tony, he just didn’t expect to be so nervous about it. He loved Tony and he knew everyone else would too, but he couldn’t shake the fear that something might go wrong.

As he continued to sift through his clothes, looking for the perfect top, Sam grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him, looking Steve right in the eyes.

“Listen man, you’ve got this! We all care about you and want nothing but the best for you. If Tony is anything like how you’ve described, then I know he’ll do fine tonight, ok? So just relax a little, because you’re so tense right now that your shoulders are practically up to your ears, and that’s not a cute look.”

Steve couldn’t help but bark out a laugh at Sam’s last words as he consciously tried to relax his shoulders. Once he did so, Steve all but tackled the man in front of him in a hug.

“Thanks for being the best Sam” he spoke softly.

“Not a problem, but please let go before you crush me to death…” Sam choked out. Steve jumped back quickly, shrugging in apology.

The pair of them walked out to wait with the rest of the group in the living room. Steve could feel the uneasiness between Natasha and Bucky almost immediately as he noticed the piece of paper Bucky was scribbling on.

“What’s that he’s working on?” Steve asked, moving to stand behind Natasha.

“Well, he thought it’d be a great idea to have a list of questions ready to ask your boyfriend,” she said, not even trying to hide the disapproving glare she was giving Bucky.

Steve wanted to grab the paper to read just what his best friend had in store for Tony, but before he could move to do so, he felt his phone vibrate.

 

Steve moved to buzz Tony in. While he waited by the door, he turned to look at Bucky.

“You better behave yourself,” he spoke, before opening the front door.

Tony stood in front of him, smiling nervously. “Hey there sweets,” he said, before leaning up for a quick kiss. Steve wanted desperately to turn it into something deeper but he thought better than to do so when he heard shuffling from behind him.

"Glad you could make it," he offered softly, moving aside so Tony could come in.

"Alright everyone, this is Tony. Tony, this is Sam, Natasha and Bucky." Steve said, pointing at each friend, respectively. Tony moved to shake everyone's hand, but Bucky just gave a nod and crammed his hands in his pockets. Tony just brushed it off with a smile before sitting next to Steve.

"So Tony, tell us a little bit about yourself," Sam said, pulling up a chair.

"Well, uhm I'm from New York, I'm an only child, I'm here to study engineering..."

"Don't forget to mention that you like to party. A lot," Bucky offered, cutting in. Steve and Natasha easily could have set him on fire with the looks they were giving him.

"Excuse me?" Tony asked, caught off guard.

"Well I just want to make sure Steve's aware of the fact that you like to drink a lot. It's a well known fact on campus that you have gotten black out drunk at every party you've been to since school started."

"Okay, so I like to have fun, so what? I'm a freshman in college, of course I'm gonna go all out the first few times I go out. But I'd like it to be noted that I haven't been to a single party since I started dating Steve," Tony answered, proud of himself for keeping his composure.

"Yeah, but how long will that last?" Bucky asked, not wanting to back off the subject.

"James..." Natasha spoke in a hushed but angry tone.

"No, babe, I'm gonna bring this up. Steve seems to think the sun shines out of this kid’s ass and that he's absolutely perfect, but that's not the case at all. Don't you guys think it's a problem that I googled our good friend Tony and couldn't find a single thing about him?"

Tony narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him. It was obvious that he wouldn't be leaving here without having to explain himself completely. He had been trying to run from this for a while, but he knew he'd eventually have to tell Steve who he really was. Once he finally got the courage to speak up, Steve moved to defend him.

"The only problem here, _James_ , is you. I don't give a fuck what the google does or doesn't say and I don't care what people on this campus think. I love Tony. Cora loves Tony... hell even Peggy loves Tony! That's all that matters."

Tony could tell that Steve wasn’t happy in the slightest about Bucky’s behavior. He wanted nothing more than to put a stop to the questions, but Tony knew that he needed to get through this. He gingerly placed his hand on Steve’s arm, causing the blond to look at him, concerned. Tony just gave him a small smile before stepping forward to stand right in front of Bucky.

“You wanna know more about me? Fine. Ask me anything you want to know,” Tony spoke, nothing but confidence and bravado in his voice.

Bucky just looked him over, stood up, took a piece of paper out of his breast pocket, unfolded it, and began.

“How many sexual partners have you had?” he asked.

“Let’s see…” Tony pretended to count on his fingers. “None of your business? Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Would you tell Steve if he asked you?”

“Yes. If we were alone and he wanted to know, I would tell him. It’s just not information that I need to share with the rest of the class.”

Bucky nodded. “Good, good. Knows the value of information,” he muttered, half to himself, half to prove that he ‘knew what he was doing’ to the rest of the group. “How old were you when you lost your virginity and to who?”

“Thirteen. Diane Kelly.” A silence fell over the group.

“Uh, okay then,” Sam cleared his throat.

“I never said it was a good decision. It was a piss poor decision. But it was five years ago and I’m past it.”

“So you’ve slept with women. Have you slept with men, as well?”

“Yeah. It’s about fifty-fifty.”

“How would you label your sexuality?”

“Pansexual.”

“Bucky, would you quit it?” Natasha nudged him.

“No. These are important questions that _need_ to be asked.”

“I don’t mind, really,” Tony said. “If this is what it takes for you to accept me, then I’ll do it.”

“Alright. Now, Coraline.”

“I actually haven’t spent very much time with her yet--”

“And why is that?” Bucky snapped.

“Because I haven’t had many opportunities.”

“You don’t make time for her?”

“Buck--”

“I’m talking to Stark,” Bucky said, cutting off Steve.

“Steve and I haven’t been together that long, but the time that I’ve spent with Coraline has been wonderful and I intend to spend much more time with her. At this point in my relationship with her, I cannot say I know her well enough to know the little things about her. However, I do know she has her mom’s hair and her dad’s eyes. Peek-a-boo is her favorite and she loves to grab onto Steve’s nose, which is a pretty big nose, sorry babe. But those are surface things and I want to know more. I look forward to spending more time with her; I look forward to learning who she is.” There was a silence once he finished speaking. Tony looked around at Steve’s friends. Had that been a decent answer?

“Where’d you even find this guy?” Natasha asked, looking at Steve.

“Stubborn ass wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Steve said around a grin, throwing his arm around Tony. He pulled him close, placing a kiss to his cheek.

“Goddamn,” Bucky muttered. “Well, Stark.... you passed.”

“Am I in the super-secret boy band now?”

“Yeah. You play tambourine.”

Tony grinned. “I’ll take it.”

* * *

Later that night, once everyone made Bucky apologize at least five times, Steve and Tony found themselves laying on the couch, finally alone.

“I’m really sorry about the way things turned out today,” Steve said for what felt like the billionth time.

“Don’t be. I’ve already told you I’m fine and it’s okay. Despite that huge hurdle at the beginning there, I had a really great time. Natasha and Sam are absolutely amazing, and Bucky isn’t one hundred percent awful,” Tony offered, nuzzling his head into Steve’s chest before the blond barked out a laugh at his words.

“I think you’re the only man I know who could come out of this not absolutely hating Bucky,” Steve spoke, slightly in awe.

“Well, it’s nice to know that you’ve got someone who’s _that_ protective of you. Plus, I probably would have done the same thing if some guy I didn’t know started dating my best friend.”

Steve reached down to gently take hold of Tony’s face before kissing him softly. “You’re amazing,” he whispered, resting his forehead on the brunet’s.

“Would you think I was even more amazing if I said I had a wicked awesome date planned for New Years and all of it was a secret so I can’t tell you what it is until we get there?” Tony asked, excited.

“I probably wouldn’t, on the sole count that you just said ‘wicked awesome’, but we’ll see,” Steve answered with a shrug.

“You’re an ass,” Tony laughed, jabbing Steve in the rib. The blond just caught his hand and intertwined their fingers.

“Yeah well, I’m your ass. And if I can get Peggy to look after Cora that weekend, I’ll be your New Years date too.”

* * *

 

 

 

* * *

 

“How did we let this happen?!” Steve asked, quickly moving to check on Cora as she slept in her playpen.

“So what, are we just supposed to meet tomorrow to put everything together?” Tony frantically searched his backpack for his philosophy notebook while trying to start up his laptop.

“That’s what Luke’s saying. It seems like everyone just took on their parts separately and tomorrow’s when we’ll meet to make everything more cohesive.” Steve answered, silently cursing himself for letting this assignment slip his mind.

They had a lot of work ahead of them, but thankfully most of their research was already out of the way. All they really had to do was put something useful together that the group could use in their presentation. After working in silence for an hour and a half straight, Tony decided to take a break. He stood to stretch and check up on Cora. Once he returned, he noticed the new email he had. His heart sank as he read the flight itinerary for his Christmas trip to Florence. Part of him had sincerely hoped his father was kidding about the trip to Italy, but Tony knew better. Howard was a lot of things, but a jokester wasn’t one of them.

“Everything alright, love?” Steve asked, looking up from his laptop screen.

“I um… let’s just get through this project and we’ll talk about it later okay?” Tony hadn’t thought much about how he was going to break the news that he’d have to spend Christmas away from Steve and Coraline. Truth be told, he was dreading having to tell Steve about his holiday plans. Tony had intentionally made no effort to bring up his family unless it was strictly necessary. He wasn’t ready for the absolute shit show of a conversation the talk about his family would be. He probably wouldn’t ever be ready for that.

When Tony finally stepped out of his head again, he realized that Steve had been staring at him, worried. “Honestly, honey, I’m fine. It’s fine. Let’s just get through this, then we’ll talk.” It was another moment before Steve simply nodded and went back to his work. It wasn’t much of a consolation, but Tony felt a slight weight lifted off his shoulders, knowing that he had at least a few more hours to sort everything out.

* * *

Steve and Tony walked out of the library breathing a little easier. They’d managed to pull an all-nighter to complete their portions of the project. Their final group meeting only lasted about half an hour as they worked to assemble their presentation. Once they were finally free, they made their way back to Steve’s apartment.

“Hey guys,” Natasha greeted them both with a smile as she sat on the floor playing with Cora.

“Thanks so much for watching her for me, Nat,” Steve said, reaching for his wallet. Natasha just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Put your wallet away, Stevie, you know you don’t need to pay me for this.” Steve just gave her an appreciative smile as she moved to stand in front of him.

“Alright, well I’m going to head out, but if I don’t see you guys beforehand, I hope you both have a great holiday.” She gave both of them a hug before seeing herself out.

“Did you have fun with Natasha?” Steve asked, crouching down next to Cora.

“Yeah! Nasha fun!” She yelled, obviously excited.

“Ready for a snack, nugget?” Tony asked, working to prepare a small bowl of Cheerios and banana slices. He took Cora’s high pitched squeal as a yes.

“So… what was it that you wanted to talk about?” It was obvious that Steve had been itching to ask about this. With a sigh, Tony finally decided it was time to stop avoiding the subject.

“Well,” he started, handing Cora’s snacks to her. “I um… I’ll be leaving Thursday morning for two weeks. I’m being forced to go on holiday with my parents for Christmas break.”

“Oh…” Steve said in a small voice. Tony knew he should have said something sooner; the look on Steve’s face was enough to break his heart. He hated knowing that he was the reason for that look.

“You okay babe?” He asked, eyes glued to the man in front of him. Steve just picked at a loose thread in his sweater before looking up with a weak smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m sad to hear you won’t be around for Christmas, Coraline and I will miss you, but I’m sure you’ll find a way to make the most of your trip.”

It was moments like this that Tony couldn’t figure out how he’d gotten so lucky. He could see right through Steve, who was obviously crushed about this, but he was putting on a brave face and trying to stay positive for Tony’s sake.

“You’re amazing, Steve,” Tony said, resting his hand on Steve’s cheek. He was about to lean in for a kiss before he felt little pieces of cereal hit his face. Tony turned to see Coraline snickering.

“Got yew!” she giggled. Steve offered an apologetic smile, as he picked the Cheerios out of Tony’s shirt. Once he was finally cereal free, Tony looked Coraline square in the face. “Well nugget,  since you already got me, I guess it’s my turn to get you!”

She screamed, as Tony launched an assault of tickles on her. He knew that this wasn’t the end, that at some point he’d have to explain himself to Steve. But for now he was happy to just have these last few moments before spending two weeks in his own personal hell.

* * *

“Alrighty, here we are,” Steve said, pulling up to the drop-off area at the airport. When he found out how early Tony’s flight was, he’d offered to give him a ride. This was the first time since they’d started dating that they’d be spending such a long amount of time apart. Steve would be lying if he said not having Tony with him for Christmas didn't hurt, but he held on to the hope that they’d get to spend New Years Eve together just as they’d planned.

Tony quietly stepped out of his car, moving to get his luggage from the trunk. Once he’d gotten all of his bags, he moved to the back seat to say goodbye to Cora.

“Bye little Corabelle, I hope Santa brings you everything you wanted this year,” he whispered, leaving a kiss on her forehead as she slept in her car seat. He gingerly closed the door and stood to look up at Steve.

“I um… wasn’t sure when would be the best time to give this to you, but Cora insisted that I give it to you so you have it for your trip.” Steve fished a small box from his jacket pocket and handed it to Tony. He watched carefully as the brunet opened his gift and smiled once Tony barked out a laugh at what he saw. It was a misshapen mound of hardened clay attached to a thin ribbon.  

“She wanted to make an ornament for you so you’d have something to decorate your tree with. She’s very concerned that Santa won’t be able to find you while you’re gone, so she thought this would help.”

Tony surged forward, wrapping his arms around Steve’s neck in a hug. “I love it,” he breathed before pulling away and taking Steve’s face in his hands. “And I love you.”

They both leaned in for a kiss, neither of them wanting to be the one to end it. After a moment, though, Steve pulled back to rest his forehead on Tony’s.

“I’ll see you in two weeks then,” Steve spoke, sadness evident in his voice.

“I’ll miss you guys. Stay out of trouble while I’m gone.” Tony offered. Steve couldn’t help but laugh at that. He stood on the sidewalk as Tony collected his things and walked away, only turning once to wave one final goodbye.

Steve got in the car and headed back towards his apartment, looking in the rearview mirror to check on Cora every so often. He knew that they’d be alright while Tony was gone, but he couldn’t help but hope that these would be the fastest two weeks of his life. 

* * *

 

* * *

The day had finally come; it was New Years Eve and Tony was going to take Steve on the most perfect date imaginable. He’d been beside himself since finding out that Peggy would be able to watch after Cora for them. The only thing that got him through his horrible Christmas holiday was knowing that, come New Years Eve, he’d have Steve all to himself.

Tony had been planning for this day for weeks now. He had thought out each and every single moment of the day, in hopes that he could make this all perfect for Steve.

“Where are we going?” Steve asked around a yawn. Tony had woken him up at the asscrack of dawn to get started on their trip.

“Well, my hunky love bug, I’m taking you on a _surprise_ date. That means I can’t actually tell you anything until we get there,” Tony answered, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look at his boyfriend in the passenger seat. Steve had managed to nod off in the seconds it took for Tony to respond. He just smiled to himself, brushing a piece of hair off of Steve’s forehead before returning his attention back on the road.

It was another hour and a half before they reached New York City, but once they did, Tony softly nudged Steve awake.

“Wake up baby, we’re here,” Tony said, turning the car off.

“Huh? We’re where… what?” Steve asked, confused as he fully awoke. Once he took one look at their surroundings he knew exactly where they were.

“Tony… did you… are we going ice skating at Rockefeller Center?!” Steve could barely contain himself at this point.

Tony just smiled, opening the door for him. “Why yes, my love, we are in fact going ice skating at Rockefeller Center.” He barely got the words out before Steve all but tackled him in a kiss.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou” the blond repeated, planting kisses all over Tony’s face.

“Anything for you, sweets. Now come on,” Tony laughed, pulling Steve along to the skate rental area. Once they paid for their skates and got them all laced up, they stood at the entrance to the rink.

“So uh… you go right on ahead and I’ll wait here for you,” Tony spoke, looking slightly terrified.

“Why would I leave you here? This is a date, silly, we’re here to skate together.”

“Yeah well… I maybe… don’t actually… know how to skate,” Tony’s voice progressively got softer as he spoke. Leave it to him to plan this date without actually knowing how to skate.

“Have you never been ice skating before?” Steve asked, moving closer to stand right in front of Tony.

“No…” the brunet answered, in a somewhat moody tone. Once he looked up, he saw that Steve was beaming. “What?” He asked slightly confused.

“This is literally the most romantic thing ever. I get to teach you how to ice skate in New York City, right next to this huge gorgeous Christmas tree, and… just give me your hand,” Steve laced their fingers before pulling Tony on the ice with him.

Once on the ice, Tony let out a small squawk as his foot slipped. Steve caught him immediately and smiled “Oh this is gonna be too much fun.”

The pair of them moved around the ice, slowly at first so Tony could get his bearings, but once he got the hang of it, they were able to pick up the pace. Two hours and only three falls later, they found themselves walking, hand in hand, with two steaming cups of hot chocolate.

“Where’d you learn to ice skate anyway?” Tony asked, blowing on his drink to make it a little cooler.

“My mom,” Steve answered, Tony noticed the sad smile that crept it’s way onto the blond’s face almost immediately. They’d never really discussed Steve’s parents or family, but Tony knew that something had happened to them. He’d heard that Steve spent some time living with Bucky and his family before Coraline came along. Tony didn’t want to force this conversation, but it seemed that Steve was eager to share his story. He squeezed Steve’s hand to let him know that it was okay to continue.

“The year that my dad died was kind of tough on us, but despite everything Ma refused to let anything keep her down. She always loved this time of year, but something about what we’d been through made that holiday season even more special. The second they set up the ice skating rink in our hometown, she promised to take me every weekend, and she did. From November until the very end of January, she took me out and taught me how to skate. I was horrible at it at first, but every time I fell we’d just laugh and keep at it. That grew into somewhat of a tradition for the years that followed up until the time when she got sick. I… haven’t actually been skating since the year she died, but I’m glad that my first time back on the ice was with you.”

Tony stopped, dead in his tracks, pulling Steve to a stop with him. He turned to face the brunet but before he could get a word out, Tony pulled him in for a deep kiss. They stood there like that for a long moment, before pulling away.

“I love you. A lot, okay?” Tony breathed.

“I know you do…” Steve answered, slightly concerned.

“I know you know I do, but… I just wanted to say I love you and thank you for sharing this with me.” Steve looked down at him, a confused smile on his face, but gave one small nod.

“I love you too, Tony.”

“Alright, cool! Now that we’ve gotten that all sorted out, we’re going to need to hit the road,” Tony said, bouncing off towards the car.

“Wait what? Where are we going?” Steve asked practically running to catch up. Once he got to the car, Tony stood with the a piece of fabric in hand while holding the door open.

“You didn’t honestly think this was all I had planned, did you?” Tony asked incredulously.

“I don’t know…” Steve answered, looking at the thin blue fabric nervously. “What’s that?”

Tony smiled, devilishly, as he moved to bring the fabric to Steve’s face.

“I’m going to blindfold you so that the rest of this trip is truly a surprise.”

“Really?” Steve asked, exasperated.

“Yes, really. I want today to be perfect for you, so that means you can’t know where I’m taking you right now. Got it, mister?” Tony answered, pretending to be stern as he guided Steve into the car.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” he responded, fumbling with his seatbelt.

Once Tony got settled in the driver’s seat, he started the car and pulled up the GPS on his phone. They had three hours to go before they reached their destination, and Tony knew his nervousness of what was to come would eat away the entire time.

* * *

“Where are we goiiiiiing?” Steve whined, for what felt like the millionth time.

“Babe, if you don’t stop I will turn this car around and drive us home.” Tony said through clenched teeth. He was trying his best to stay patient but Steve had been asking about their whereabouts constantly for the better part of two hours.

“I know you Tony, you’re not going to turn around. We’ve been driving for hours.” Tony couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that Steve sounded like a petulant toddler.

“I swear, Cora acts better than this in the car.”

“Please, Tony, tell me the last time she was actually _awake_ while we drove her somewhere!”

Seeing Steve this crabby was actually hilarious, and as badly as Tony wanted to keep with this back and forth, he decided to pull over to get something to eat.

“Food time!” he yelled, as he parked behind the small diner. He made his way around the side of the car to open Steve’s door and let him out. “I’m going to take this blindfold off of you, but you have to promise not to try to figure out where we are, ok?” Steve just nodded. Once the blindfold was off, he stuck his tongue out, mock angry, before turning to stomp off into the diner.

“Hmm, the Blue Benn Diner,” Steve mused, looking over the menu. “What a shame it would be if I were to google where that is…”

“Don’t you dare,” Tony hissed.

They ate fairly quickly, shoveling down some bacon cheeseburgers and fries. Tony tried his best to keep any clues as to where they were out of sight, but the second they left the diner, Steve took a quick look around the parking lot.

“Are we in Vermont?” He asked, looking at the car next to theirs.

“No,” Tony answered, desperately hoping that Steve would believe him.

“There’s a suspiciously large amount of Vermont license plates here for us to not be in Vermont…” Tony saw the smug look on Steve’s face and decided there was only one way to wipe it off his face. He took a running start before tackling Steve into the snow bank at the edge of the parking lot.

“Hey!” Steve yelled, flat on his back in the snow.

“You promised you wouldn’t try to figure out where we were and you didn’t keep your promise. So… snowbank for you!” Tony said, crossing his arms in a huff. Before he knew it, his legs were being knocked out from under him and he felt the wet cold of the snow.

“Whyyyyyy?!” Tony cried out. Steve just moved to hover over him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Because, being on your back isn’t nearly as fun alone,” Steve whispered, before planting a kiss on the Tony’s lips. A shiver went down his spine, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from the look in Steve’s eyes.

“Well,” Tony said, clearing his throat, “we should probably get going then. We don’t want to be late for the best surprise of the night.”

He struggled to his feet, then turned to extend a hand to Steve who gladly accepted the help. Once back at the car, Tony pulled the blindfold out of his pocket. Steve just rolled his eyes before taking the blindfold and securing it himself. Tony ushered him into the car, helping him to fasten his seatbelt, then ran to get in. They made the rest of the drive hands intertwined and in silence, save for the sound of the heat blasting through the car. 

* * *

“Reservation under ‘Stark’,” Tony said when they got to the front desk at the bed and breakfast. It had taken four hours to get from Rockefeller Center to the Arlington West Mountain Inn thanks to a fucking snowstorm and truck that tipped off the side of the road. Why had he thought Vermont would be so romantic?

“Tony?” the woman asked, looking through the log book.

“Yup, that’s me.”

“ID?”

Tony took out his driver’s license and slid it across the table.

“You’re younger than I thought you would be when you called to make the reservation.”

“Eighteen yolos,” Tony smirked. The woman rolled her eyes and handed his ID back to him, along with a room key.

“Checkout is at noon. Enjoy your stay.”

“Thanks ma’am.”

Tony turned and went back out to the parking lot (which was more of a driveway, really). Steve was sitting in the passenger seat, the blindfold still resting over his eyes.

“Okay, sweetheart. We’re gonna go in, now.”

“Can I take off the blindfold?” Steve asked, perking up at Tony’s voice.

“Absolutely not.”

Tony opened the passenger seat and helped Steve up and out. He locked the car over his shoulder as he guided Steve through the snow into the bed and breakfast. The place allowed him to request a floor and, when Tony found out, he was enthused to request a room on the third floor in the very back; he hadn’t thought through what it would be like to get Steve up there without an elevator.

“Okay, uh, there are stairs,” Tony admitted, bringing Steve to the bottom of them. “But we got this, right?”

“Uh, sure?”

“Okay, lift up your right foot. There you go. Okay, now your left. Take it one step at a time, hon. Very good. Now take another one—”

“Tony!” Steve called, attempting to sound exasperated but coming off fond. “I know how to walk up stairs.”

“Fine. Navigate the two flights on your own. See if I care,” Tony huffed, mock offended.

“If it makes you feel better, I suppose you can help me,” Steve joked.

“Okay, alright, here we go. Now, there’s four more to the first landing. Then make a left. Then there are seven steps and we’re gonna turn to the left again. One. Two.”

“Threefourfivesixseven,” Steve counted, running up the stairs, stumbling only once in his temporary blindness.

“You’re a little shit!” Tony shouted, chasing after Steve.

“Can I take off the blindfold now, _please_ ,” Steve begged.

“Fuck no. We’ve made it this far. Fourteen more stairs and we’re home free, Bubba Gump.”

“Never call me that again.”

“Pudding cup?”

“Try again.”

“My soft-on-the-corneas cowboy?”

“What… where did you even come up with that?”

“That is for me to know and for you to always wonder. Now, look at that, we’re at the top of the stairs. I distracted you from your panic at the sight, rather thought, of these stairs and now they’re behind us. Now, just a little further down the hallway…” Tony said, walking away from Steve, who stood still at the top of the stairs. “C’mon, follow the sweet sound of my voice.”

“You’re so full of yourself.”

“Yes.”

Tony fumbled, trying to get the key in the lock. When it swung open, Tony knew he’d picked the right place. When he’d made the reservation, the woman on the phone—probably the woman at the desk, now that he thought about it—asked if he had any special requests. He’d said flower petals, candles (to be lit on his arrival/during his journey to the room), lubrication, and condoms. Now all that was left to do was—

“Oh my god, Tony. You did this for me?” Steve whispered.

“I did this for us,” Tony replied, proud of his cheesy banter. “And I didn’t tell you that you were allowed to take off the blindf—”

Steve didn’t let Tony finish the sentence, instead cutting him off by crashing their lips together. He loved Tony and he probably had since the moment he watched Tony hold his daughter for the first time. Now there was no Coraline. There was no teen dad and no group project and no ‘I need to pick up an extra shift, sorry for canceling date night again’. There was just Tony.

“I love you,” he mumbled into Steve’s lips.

“Love you, too.”

There were far too many layers between them. They were separated by winter coats, sweaters, and t-shirts and all Steve wanted was to feel Tony’s skin against his. He fumbled to unzip Tony’s jacket, but the zipper got stuck halfway down.

“Hold on, let me help,” Tony offered, holding just above and below the place where it was stuck, allowing Steve to yank it free.

“Ow,” Steve hissed when he caught his finger. He put it in his mouth to ease the pain.

“Sorry, baby,” Tony purred, taking the finger out of Steve’s mouth and popping it into his own.

Steve groaned, his free hand rushing to unzip his own coat. After their coats were shed, Steve’s hands rushed to the hem of Tony’s sweater. In his haste to remove the clothing it ended up getting stuck on Tony’s head.

“This is awful,” Steve whined as he helped Tony untangle his limbs from the sweater that was currently holding him hostage. “I’m so sorry.”

“Steve, honey, it’s _fine_.”

“No, I’m messing this up.”

“What?”

“Well, you have experience when it comes to sex and I’ve done it a grand total of once and I wanted to make this really special and nice for both of us and I can’t even get you undressed properly.”

Tony waited patiently until Steve finished his rant. “You done now?”

“Huh?”

“You’re doing absolutely fine, honey. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Even if there were, you’re still doing it the right way. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Steve mumbled, bringing Tony’s knuckles to his lips and kissing them gently. “Forgive me?”

“For what?”

“Being a sex noob?”

Tony threw his head back and cackled. “I am willing to bet that never before has a person with a child referred to themselves as a sex noob.”

Steve pouted. “You don’t have to be mean about it.”

“Forgive me, angel,” Tony whispered, falling to his knees. In one swift movement, Steve’s belt was thrown to the side and Tony was struggling to force his jeans down to his ankles. “Your pants are all wet,” Tony grumbled, still trying to force the wet denim down.

“That’s because some doofus shoved me into a snowbank.”

“Well that doofus is regretting it now.”

“Let me help you,” Steve said, getting on the floor across from Tony. “I’m gonna put my foot in your lap and you’re gonna pull from the bottom, alright?” Steve instructed, situating himself.

“Got it, hot stuff,” Tony winked, pulling at Steve’s pants with all of his might.

All at once, the pants gave, and Tony flew backwards, hitting himself in the face with his own fist.

“Ow!” he whined, licking over his quickly swelling lip.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Steve shouted, surging forward and running his thumb along Tony’s blossoming injury. Steve placed a chaste kiss to Tony’s lips.

“All better,” Tony grinned. “Now c’mon. I ended up in the snowbank, too. It’s gonna be just as much fun to get my pants off.” Steve didn’t hurt himself in the process, which he counted as a win, but he didn’t get a chance to appreciate his victory, as Tony was suddenly on top of him, kissing him, hands everywhere.

“Bed, Tony,” Steve whispered. Without a word, Tony rolled off of Steve and moved to the bed, shedding his shirt on the way. It wasn’t long before Steve was on top of Tony, his shirt gone, and for the first time they were both completely naked at the same time.

“Love you,” Tony murmured between kisses.

“Love you, too.”

“Ready when you are.”

“I’ve been ready since we watched _Dark Knight_.”

“Horny little shit,” Tony grabbed the lube off of the table where it had been placed by whoever set up the room. He popped the cap before looking up at Steve.

“Uh… should have thought to ask about this before but do you wanna, uh, you know… which do you wanna do?”

“Eloquent, babe,” Steve said around a smile. He kissed Tony’s nose. “Which do you prefer?”

Tony shook his head. “No, no, no, no, none of that,” Tony shook his finger, sitting up. Steve rolled off of him so they were sitting side by side. “We’re doing this how you want to do it.”

“Doing it the way you like is the way I want to do it.”

“You have to want it one way or the other. I know you, Steve. Stop trying to make everyone else happy for point two seconds and tell me what you want.”

“I want… I want to try bottoming.”

Tony surged forward and kissed Steve with every ounce of love he had in his entire soul. “I’m gonna make this so good for you,” Tony whispered, slowly shifting them until Steve was below him, Tony situated between his legs.

“Ready?” Tony asked, once his fingers were slicked with the lube. Steve just nodded, his eyes closed. “It’s gonna hurt a little bit at first, okay?” Again, Steve did nothing but nod. Tony gently ran the pad of his finger over Steve before slowly pushing in. He remembered the first time this had been done to him; how it had felt so intrusive and _wrong_.

“Relax for me, baby,” Tony whispered; it was evident that every muscle in Steve’s body was tensed.

“Sorry,” Steve muttered, visibly unclenching his fists, then slowly easing the tension through the rest of his body.

“No need to be. It’s weird, I know. It gets better, though. Promise.”

“I trust you, Tony.”

Once Steve gave him the go ahead, Tony added a second finger. Every so often Steve would flinch, but when Tony said that he’d gladly stop and turn the tables, Steve urged him on. Then, all at once, Tony’s fingers brushed against Steve’s prostate and Steve bucked off the bed.

“Do that again,” he panted. Tony grinned.

“Told you it go better.”

“Stop snarking, Stark, and do it again.”

Instead of responding, Tony just pressed his finger against the sweet spot and reveled in the whine that came from Steve.

“More,” he begged.

“Are you sure?” Tony knew it felt good, but he also knew that the first couple of times hurt a little. “I don’t want to rush anything if you’re not comfo--”

“Stick another finger in my goddamn ass.”

And… that should not have sounded as sexy as it did, but he was happy to oblige. Steve sucked in a rushed breath through his teeth when Tony added the third and final finger. Steve started to thrust down onto Tony’s fingers and, okay, Tony was losing his resolve. He had been determined to make this all about Steve, but he had needs, too. He used his free hand to gently stroke his own cock.

“I’m ready for you,” Steve said.

“You sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Okay,” Tony said, rolling on a condom and slicking his cock, he lined himself up against Steve. Steve reached forward, linking his fingers with Tony.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

Tony pushed in, going as slowly as he could. Steve tried to hide the discomfort in his face but Tony knew. He leaned forward and placed light, butterfly kisses across Steve’s face. “I love you so much, Steve. So, so much.”

“I love you, too.”

“I love you more.”

Steve’s laugh turned into a whine turned into a moan. “I sincerely doubt that.” After a few moments, Steve squeezed Tony’s hand. “Go ahead. Move.”

“You sure.”

“I wouldn’t have said anything if I weren’t.”

“Okay.” Tony experimentally rolled his hips and holy hell that was good. He fought to stay in control, to take care of Steve, but it was hard. Tony wasn’t used to having to hold back. For one, he was used to either bottoming or being with a woman. This was his second time topping, the first having gone horribly, _horribly_ wrong. Oh god, why was he thinking about his piece of shit ex while he was literally inside of Steve.

“What are you thinking about?” Steve asked. He looked worried.

“Nothing of importance.”

“I’m not going to break. I promise. You can keep going.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Tony admitted.

Steve barked out a laugh and rolled them over. “You do everything and more for me. Let me take care of you,” Steve husked into Tony’s ear before rolling his hips. Tony whined and, okay, Steve was perfect.

Tony wasn’t sure when it happened, but the next thing he remembered was Steve being upright. It was quite a sight, Steve bouncing on his dick, his (beyond perfect) cock bobbing along on Tony’s stomach as he slowly stroked himself, sweat drenched hair flopping in his face, eyes closed and mouth slightly open.

“Love you,” Tony slurred.

“Love you.”

Steve. Love. Steve. Love. Tony loves Steve. Steve loves Tony. _Steve loves me_.

That thought, paired with the fact that Steve had dropped all the way down and was grinding himself against Tony, pushed Tony over the edge and he came with a gasp, his whole body stilling as he let the post orgasmic calm course through his veins.

“There ya go, babe,” Steve said, leaning forward to kiss Tony. “I make you feel good?”

Tony nodded, fully and truly unable to contemplate words. Orgasms were _awesome_. Steve continued to stroke himself, but his movements had become more erratic; more needy. Tony regained some motor function and swatted Steve’s hand away, grabbing at his dick. It wasn’t long before Steve was coming in thin strips on Tony’s chest.

Steve collapsed to Tony’s side, kissing his cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” When their breaths evened out, Steve turned Tony’s face to look at him. “We’re doing that again, right?”

Tony chuckled, taking off the condom and tying it up. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“My turn to top.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Wait!” Steve exclaimed rushing to his coat and pulling his phone out.

“What?”

Steve looked up. “Happy New Year, my love.”

“Happy New Year.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did a little VT research. So, for some visuals...  
> [Blue Benn Diner outside](http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/72/58/9d/72589d86a28cc93529a0999919d63ae1.jpg)  
> [Blue Benn Diner inside](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/8c/ba/bf/blue-benn-diner.jpg)  
> [Arlington West Mountain Inn](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.selectregistry.com%2FUploads%2FMembers%2Fwest-mountain-inn%2Fimages%2Fwinterinnsm.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.selectregistry.com%2Fmembers%2Fwest-mountain-inn.asp&h=1063&w=1600&tbnid=kSs5ETF9BD-ceM%3A&zoom=1&docid=KvFzPcNaDC6XuM&ei=bseLVNnbMsHesASpiYG4BA&tbm=isch&ved=0CCAQMygCMAI&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=722&page=1&start=0&ndsp=15)


	3. Freshman Year; Semester Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We originally said that we would be posting every Saturday, but to give ourselves a little more time to hold onto our sanity, we're going to be posting every OTHER Saturday.
> 
>  **Clementine (tony-starks-nipples)**  
>  Wow, okay, so this chapter is all Emily, you guys. I think I wrote maybe two scenes? This chapter is amazing and I just have to thank her for picking up my slack.
> 
>  **Emily (fiftyshadesofstony)**  
>  Hello again friends! Thanks so much for bearing with us with the updates. I'm beyond excited to finally get to share this chapter with you all, so I hope everyone enjoys it!!!

Once New Years came and went, the rest of their break just seemed like one big blissful blur. Since their night in Vermont, every day seemed to just get better. Though he knew it was inevitable, Tony wasn’t ready for that to end with the onset of the business of new classes. It took a few days for them to get back in the swing of things, but a few weeks into the new semester, they’d found a comfortable routine.

Tony found himself snuggled up in his bed as the afternoon sun seeped in through his window. It was Sunday, and that meant he had the day to himself. It’s not that Steve was busy, but they’d decided that it’d be good to have one day during the week where they could just relax and enjoy time by themselves. While they adored each other, they didn’t want to become co-dependent. Tony had planned a day of literally laying around watching whatever the TV had to offer, but as he was about to start the sixth episode in his Law and Order: SVU marathon, his phone vibrated. He searched his bed, slightly annoyed that anyone would bother him on his one day to relax, but upon seeing it was Steve, his mood brightened immediately.

“Hey hon,” Tony said, cheerily.

“Babe I need your help,” Steve breathed out all at once.

“Sure, what do you need?”

“There was a scheduling mix up at the library so I have to go into work. Peggy’s working at the hospital until seven tonight, so she can’t get Cora early. Is there any way you can come watch her for me?”

“So you want me to watch Cora. Alone.” Tony stated, checking to see if he’d heard right. He adored Cora more than he ever expected he could; she was a constant ray of sunshine in his life, and he absolutely loved being around her… when others with actual baby experience were also around. In the few months that Tony had been dating Steve, he’d not once looked after Cora without someone else around to help. The thought of looking after her,alone quite honestly scared the shit out of Tony.

“Is… is that okay?” Steve asked, obviously not wanting to ask too much of his boyfriend. Tony quickly ran his free hand through his hair, giving a silent sigh.

“Of course it’s okay, babe. I’ll be over in fifteen.”

* * *

  


* * *

Tony didn’t even have time to knock before the door swung open, and he was pulled inside.

“Well hello to you too!” He laughed, as Steve frantically tried to collect his things before leaving for work. “Anything I should know before you leave me with your pride and joy?” Tony asked, trying his best to stay out of the way.

“She’s down for a nap right now, but she should be waking up within the next hour or so. There’s a brand new bottle of her juice in the pantry if she wants any, but please try to make sure she drinks some milk today. I’ve left plenty of Graduates snacks and meals for you to choose from. She’s going to tell you she wants to eat the hot cereal for dinner; seriously she’s going to _insist_ that that’s all she’ll eat. Just be stern with her and let her know that if she eats something with vegetables in it, you’ll give her some strawberry yogurt for dessert.”

Tony took in all that Steve was telling him. He wasn’t sure whether to find some of these things absolutely terrifying or unreasonably adorable. He settled for some strange combination of both once he realized he had zoned out and was missing vital information.

“...and all of the emergency contacts are on that list too, so if you need to get ahold of anyone else, for some reason, you’ll find them there. Any questions?” Steve asked, finally stopping to look at his boyfriend. Tony just rubbed the back of his head, giving a nervous smile.

“Hon, I’ve got this. Cora and I are the best of friends at this point, and we’ll be just fine. Now get to work before you’re late.”

Steve tried to read the look on Tony’s face, but didn’t see anything more than mild nervousness. He pulled the brunet in by the waist before landing a gentle kiss on his lips. “Thanks so much for this, I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

Before Tony had a chance to regain his wits about him, Steve had pulled away and was moving towards the door.

“I’ll be back by seven for the hand off with Peggy, and I’ll try to bring back something for us to eat. Thanks so much again. Love you!” Steve was already out the door before Tony could respond, but nonetheless he still uttered a ‘love you, too’ before turning to take in the entire apartment. He could do this, he knew he could. But that didn’t stop him from saying a silent prayer before going to check up on Cora. This was going to be one long afternoon.

* * *

“Come on Pep, _please_!”

“Tony, I’m at work. I can’t really help you right now...’

Tony turned to see Coraline crying on the floor. He genuinely felt horrible about this predicament they were in, mainly because she was clearly uncomfortable.

“Look, Cora just pooped in her diaper and I have no clue how to change it. She’s miserable right now because she’s uncomfortable. I’m miserable right now because it smells horrendous and she won’t stop crying. Please just help me! Did you just… are you _laughing_ right now?!” Tony asked, incredulous.

“Tony, babe, I am so sorry, but I can’t help you. You’re a smart guy, you’ll figure it out, I’m sure. But I’ve got to get back to work, so good luck.” Tony swore he heard the sound of Pepper laughing uproariously before the line went dead.

Great. Now he was stuck, all alone, with his boyfriend’s daughter and her poop-filled diaper with no clue how to change it. He could do this. He just kept telling himself that over and over as he slowly approached Cora. After gagging three times before he was even within two feet of the baby, Tony realized quickly that he could not, in fact, do this at all.

A slight panic began to set in, until it dawned on him that he could turn to the internet for help. Right was Tony was about to push play on the _How to Change a Diaper_ video he found on YouTube, he heard a set of keys rustling before the front door opened. Natasha and Bucky stood there looking down at Tony as he tried to figure out where to actually start with the unholiness that was Cora’s diaper.  

"What the actual… heck, Stark?" Bucky asked, censoring himself. Tony looked up, giving a delirious smile. "Are you two angels, sent down from the heavens to rescue me from this nightmare?"

"Jesus, Stark, are you high?" Bucky asked, taken aback by Tony's behavior. Tony just raised an eyebrow and crossed his heart in a huff. "No, Barnes, it's just the first time I've ever actually been happy to see you. Now help me!"

Bucky rolled his eyes but quickly moved to the floor. Tony watched in amazement as Bucky moved like lightning. In what seemed like seconds, Cora was changed, and giggling like nothing ever happened.

“How did you… how did you just do that?” Tony asked, still stunned.

“Any idiot can learn how to change a diaper. Even you,” Bucky offered, turning to face Tony with the dirty diaper in hand. “Now since I did all the work, you get to clean up the mess.”

It took everything he had not to throw up the second he took the soiled diaper in hand. Once he finally made it to the trashcan, Tony silently gave himself a pat on the back for a job well done.

“Oh man, guys, thanks so much for coming over to help. Wait, hold on, why are either of you here?” Tony asked, finally realizing how odd it was that Steve’s friends had shown up in his time of need.

“Well, we were already in the neighborhood, but once we got a text from Pepper about how real the struggle was for you here, we decided to stop by to give you a hand,” Natasha offered.

“I’m just not sure if I should be worried that you have Pepper’s number, or thankful,” Tony spoke, looking over Cora once more to see just how happy she was now. Bucky just swung his arm around Tony’s shoulder, pulling him closer.

“If Pepper’s anything like Natasha, it’s best if you don’t think too hard on anything she does and just be greatful if it benefits you.”

Bucky clapped Tony on the back, and laughed as the shorter man stumbled a bit. Their relationship was a strange one, but Tony couldn't be happier with it. He and Bucky never explicitly established that things between them were okay after their first meeting. They just jumped right into being sarcastic little shits to one another and, somehow, it just worked for them.

“So are you guys staying or…” Tony spoke, moving to pick up Coraline from her spot on the floor. Natasha looked at Bucky and just shrugged.

“Well, you seem to have a handle on things so we’re just gonna head out. But if you need anything just call us, we won’t be too far,” Natasha said, going in for a half hug.

“Bye bye!” Cora said waving enthusiastically as the two walked to the door.  Before leaving, Bucky turned with a smile. “Oh, and just so you know Tony, Steve is definitely going to hear about this.”

* * *

Steve was exhausted by the time he got home, but excited to see Tony and Cora. When he walked into his apartment, he found Tony sitting on the couch watching an episode of _Arthur_ as Cora played with her blocks on the floor.

“You know she doesn’t understand any of what’s happening on that show, right?” Steve asked, removing his shoes and jacket. Tony just looked up and gave a tired smile. “Yeah, well there isn’t really much that I watch that’s kid friendly, so I settled for this. Plus this was my favorite as a kid so I don’t mind.”

Steve moved to stand by the couch, and reached out a hand to run through Tony’s hair. The brunet hummed as he leaned into the touch. “So, how was everything?” Steve finally asked. He noticed Tony tense slightly at the question, before moving to make more room beside him.

“Uh, things went well! You left, Cora woke up, we laughed, we played… it was great!” Tony offered, quickly realizing that he sounded as unconvincing as he thought. “Bucky texted you didn’t he?” Tony asked, defeated.

“Oh honey, he stopped by the library as soon as they left here. It took him a solid fifteen minutes to tell the story because he couldn’t stop laughing. He actually started crying for real at one point. It was a mess.”

Steve couldn’t help but give a fond smile as Tony deflated instantly. “Aww, come on babe, don’t feel bad about it. All that matters is that you’re both happy and in one piece.”

“No, all that matters is that Bucky is a jerk,” Tony muttered as he crossed his arms in a huff. Steve just laughed and gave him a kiss to the temple before standing.

“Well, I’m gonna put Cora to sleep and then we’ll discuss what I owe you for babysitting.”

“Wait… what?” Tony asked, thoroughly confused. “First of all, I thought Peggy was coming for Cora tonight.”

“She texted me. She has to work a double, so she’ll be by tomorrow.”

“Oh… alright. And I thought we’d been through this before, hon. You don’t need to pay me for watching Coraline.”

Steve just rolled his eyes and sighed. “I was going to pay you by sucking your dick, idiot.”

“Oh, well then,” Tony stammered, clearing his throat. “While I usually don’t accept payment for my good deeds, I think I can make an exception. Just this once.” Steve gave a triumphant smile, as he stood. “Somehow I had a feeling you might.”

Steve moved to pick Cora up from the floor, and nuzzled her forehead as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You ready for bed, nugget?” he asked, brushing some hair out of her face.

“Mmhmm,” Cora offered, giving a small nod.

“Alright then say goodnight to Tony,” Steve said, raising Cora’s hand to help her wave.

“Night ‘ony,” Cora said in a small voice. Tony stood to give her a kiss on her forehead.

“Goodnight kiddo,” he whispered.

Steve turned to take Cora to her room, but turned with a mischievous grin on his face. “As I said before, once I put her to bed, I’m gonna come back out here so we can work on your payment.”

Tony couldn’t do anything but stare as Steve and Cora disappeared down the hallway. After the craziness that he’d been through dealing with dirty diapers and Steve’s friends, the only thought running through Tony’s mind was that he’d never been so excited for anyone to back him back for anything in his life.

* * *

“Steve, come on let’s go! I wanna make sure we’re able to see everything, and we can’t if you don’t pick up the pace!” Tony said, quickly walking through the light rain.

It was their first Valentine’s day together, and Tony wanted to do something low-key but fun.

“Babe, I think we’re literally the first ones here, what’s the rush?” Steve asked, looking at his boyfriend fondly.

“Well… it’s a big place and I wanna make sure we get to see it all,” Tony offered, not wanting to hint at the fact that they had to hurry for one of his surprises.

Steve looked at him, slightly suspicious, but ultimately just shrugged it off. “Alright, I’ll walk a little faster, but don’t come crying to me if you’re lovely little legs get tired and aren’t able to keep up.”

“Oh ha-fucking-ha Rogers,” Tony huffed, mock offended. Steve wrapped his arm around the brunet’s waist and kissed his cheek.

“Don’t worry babe, if you get tired, I’ll let you ride me for as long as you want.”

Tony tried to keep a straight face, but he just barked out a laugh and leaned into Steve. “I’ll hold you to that, I hope you know,” he said as they approached the ticket counter. Once Tony purchased their tickets, they made their way inside.

“So you’re going to notice something a little off about the aquarium today…” Tony started as they walked in.

“Like what?” Steve asked, nervously. It only took a moment for Steve to realize that they were completely alone. “Where is everyone?” he asked, looking around. When his eyes landed on Tony, he was met with a large smile.

“Well, I know a guy who was able to pull some strings so, with the exception of staff, we’ve got the whole place to ourselves for two hours.”

“Tony… you don’t just ‘pull some strings’ to have someone reserve the whole aquarium for you. How did you get them to let us do this?” Steve asked, warily following Tony inside. The brunet just stopped in his tracks, turned and placed both hands on Steve’s shoulders. “Babe, I need you to trust me, but I also need you to not worry. This is my surprise to you for today so just relax and enjoy it, okay?”

Everything in him wanted to inquire further about this, but Steve gave in. He was always worrying about things, but for once he wanted to just sit back and enjoy the madness that came a long with Tony.

“Alright,” Steve said, offering a small smile. “I trust you, and I promise I’ll relax.”

“Wonderful,” Tony sang, as he clapped his hands together. “Then without further ado, let’s go see some fishies!”

They made their way through several exhibits, stopping to see the sharks and pet the stingrays as they swam by, watching the seals play, and seeing all the exotic Amazon rainforest animals. Once they made it to the penguin habitat, Tony stopped.

“What’s up?” Steve asked, once he realized that he was walking alone.

“I figured we could check out the penguins. I know sometimes they, like, do a show with them. Maybe it’d be nice to see while we have everything to ourselves.”   
“Alright,” Steve agreed, walking into the exhibit as Tony held the door open for him. Steve stopped in his tracks once he saw what was waiting for him on the other side of that door. There were 8 penguins perched on a rock, signs around their neck reading ‘I LOVE YOU’. When he turned to look at Tony, he was met by the site of two stuffed penguins, one significantly smaller than the other.

“Surprise!” Tony sang, with a big smile on his face. “A little birdie named Peggy may have told me just how much you and Cora love penguins. So I figured I’d get her these stuffed penguins that kind of, but not really, look like the two of you, while I got you the chance to feed some of these little guys.”

“This is amazing, Tony. Thank you.” Steve whispered, turning the stuffed animals over in his hands.

“Do you like it?” Tony asked, now sounding unsure of himself. Steve just pulled him in for a gentle kiss before answering; “I absolutely love it.”

Once they parted, they turned to see a woman bringing out some buckets. She quickly waved, before turning to set everything up.

“Ready?” Tony asked, taking hold of Steve’s hand. The blond smiled wide, nodding. “Yep, let’s go meet some penguins.”

* * *

Their day at the aquarium was coming to an end, as they finally reached the Giant Ocean Tank exhibit. They stopped to look at all the different animals in the tank, but Steve’s attention seemed on something else entirely.

“Anything on your mind?” Tony asked, noticing the strange look on Steve’s face.

“I’m just thinking about how badly I wish you’d say your legs were tired, so you could take me up on that whole riding me offer,” Steve said, not once taking his eyes off the animals floating around before him. Tony swallowed, hard, as an idea popped into his head.

“Well, what if I said I was ready for that ride now?”

It took less than five seconds for Steve to close the distance between the two of them. Almost immediately, Steve found himself pressed up against the wall, Tony’s tongue in his mouth and hands in his shirt, before his brain came back online.

“Tony, Tony, wait. Security cameras.”

“Told ‘em this would probably happen,” he mumbled, attacking the skin behind Steve’s ear.

“A-and they’re okay with it?” Steve asked, all resolve slipping away at the fault of Tony’s hands.

“Mmm,” Tony slurred, still trying to take off Steve’s shirt. “Now fuck me. I’m sure the cute little fishies won’t mind.”

Steve took that as his go ahead to take control, wrapping his arms tight around Tony and turning them around so it was Tony against the wall. There was a wicked grin on Tony’s face when Steve started working on his pants.

“I knew I could persuade you.”

“Shut up and get naked.”

“Yes, sir.”

They’d gotten better at the whole undressing thing since the New Years debacle, but there was still a bit of clumsy fumbling when Tony grabbed Steve’s sweater and undershirt at the same time and Steve ended up getting stuck.

“So… the floor?” Tony asked. Maybe he hadn’t thought _everything_ through. Yeah, he was horny and naked and his boyfriend was too, but he wasn’t sure how keen he was on laying said naked bodies on the sticky aquarium floor.

“Ew,” Steve chuckled. “You know these muscles aren’t just for looks, right?” With a smirk, he picked Tony up by the ass, eliciting a squeak from the shorter man.

“Oh fuck,” Tony hissed. “There’s a chance that I just fell in love with you all over again.”

Steve stuck a lubed up finger inside of Tony, then another, a third, and sooner rather than later he was slicking up his cock.

“Grab onto that,” Steve said. Tony looked up and saw a railing he assumed was some sort of reinforcement for the tanks, and grabbed onto it. Just as Steve was about to push inside of Tony, Tony barked out a laugh.

“What?” Steve asked, slightly horrified.

“Nemo is judging us.”

Steve turned to see where Tony was pointing and, sure enough, there was a clownfish repeatedly swimming into the glass in the tank across from them.

“Oh my god,” Steve breathed, resting his forehead against Tony’s shoulder. “Sex now? Please?”

“I’m waiting on you, Adonis.”

* * *

"Alright, so I have one more surprise for you..." Tony started once they walked into Steve's apartment. Before Steve really had a chance to process what he’d said, Tony was standing in front of him, presenting a box with pristine Valentine’s day wrapping paper.  Steve took the box, trying to open it as gingerly as possible. Once he got the box open, he stood there, dumbfounded.

“Tony, this is…”

“Yep, it’s the Rembrandt paint set you’d been looking at,” Tony offered, excited.

“This is too much, I can’t except this. Where did you even get the money for this?” Steve asked, running his hands over the beautifully crafted wooden box that held the art supplies.

“What does it matter where the money came from?” Tony asked, legitimately confused by his boyfriend’s reaction. “All that matters is that this is something that you really wanted, I know this is something that would mean a lot to you so I got it for you.”

“I know how much this cost, Tony; this is worth over _five hundred dollars_. That’s not just pocket change, and I just… I can’t take something this expensive from you,” Steve said, softly placing the paint set on the living room table. The pair of them stood looking at each other for a moment. Tony genuinely couldn’t comprehend why Steve wouldn’t just take the gift. He _knew_ it was expensive, but it didn’t matter to him. He’d spend every penny he had to make Steve happy. It was with that thought that Tony realized just why this seemed like such a big deal to Steve.

Tony still hadn’t come clean about who he really was, so of course any amount of money that seemed minimal to him would seem excessive to Steve. He’d dug himself into somewhat of a hole with this, and if he didn’t find a way to fix it, things would only get worse. He took a deep breath before taking both of Steve’s hands in his own.

“Babe, listen. You’ve been working your ass off for months, and I know you haven’t really had the chance to work on your art as much as you’d like. I knew that I wanted to buy this for you, so you had incentive to go back to what you really love to do when you have the time, so I saved up all of the money that I got for Christmas to buy this for you. I’m sorry if this is too much, and I’ll take it back if that’s what you truly want, but I just wanted to get something that would show how much I really do love you.”

Tony held his breath as Steve worried his lip. He really didn’t want to have to take the gift back, but he didn’t want Steve to feel uncomfortable, either. The blond just sighed before giving him a wary smile. “I’m still kind of apprehensive to take such an expensive gift from you… but I understand what you were trying to do, so thank you.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna keep it?” Tony asked, hopeful. Steve smiled, more genuine before answering.

“Yeah, that means I’m gonna keep it!”

Tony’s lips crashed onto Steve’s, excitedly. It was several moments before they parted, but once they did, Steve let out a small laugh.

“And what’s so funny?” Tony asked.

“Well, you got me this grand gift, and all I have for you is this sketch I made of you while you were working on one of your engineering projects.” Steve reached for his sketch pad and carefully removed the sketch in question. Once he saw it, Tony couldn’t believe his eyes. The amount of care that was given to every single detail was absolutely amazing.

“Is this how you see me?” Tony asked, mesmerized by the drawing in his hands.

“Well...yeah. You’re in another world when you’re working on the things that mean the most to you, and I thought it’d be nice to be able to show that to you.”

“I love it,” Tony whispered more to himself than anything else. It took a moment for him to sort out the wealth of emotion that he was feeling, but once he did, Tony looked up at Steve. “I absolutely love it, and I love you.”

“Love you too, Tony,” Steve offered, giving the brunet a kiss on the forehead. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. Ready for bed?” Steve asked.

“Oh, so I get to stay over tonight, huh?” Tony asked in the sassiest voice he could muster. Steve just shrugged, and smiled suggestively

“I figure it’d be a lot easier for me to have morning sex with you if you were actually in my bed instead of halfway across campus when I woke up.”

Tony couldn’t help the ear to ear grin that spread on his face at that. “Well,” he spoke, taking Steve’s hand in his own, “who could say no to an invitation like that?”

* * *

"Tony bought you _what_?"

"A Rembrandt paint set..."

"And this was after he called in some mysterious favor to reserve the aquarium for just the two of you?" All Steve could do was nod at the question. Natasha just looked at him, astonished.

"Damn."

Steve had been worrying about Tony's finances ever since Valentine's day. He wanted to trust his boyfriend, but something didn't seem right.

“I randomly found the receipt from the bed and breakfast that we stayed at for New Years Eve, too,” Steve spoke, readjusting himself to lay on his stomach on Natasha’s bed. “I was doing laundry and I found it in his pants. Nat… he spent three hundred dollars on that room.”

“Where is he getting this money?” Natasha asked, from her position on the floor in front of the bed.

“Honestly, I don’t know, and that’s what’s got me worried. He says he used the money he got for Christmas for the paint set, but what about the bed and breakfast? And who could he possibly know that would be capable of shutting down the entire aquarium to everyone but us? I mean for God’s sake, we had _sex_ in the aquarium.”

“Ew,” Nat interjected, with a scrunched up face. Steve just raised an eyebrow, looking at her as if to say _Really?_ She just shrugged, “Sorry.”

“Anyway, he said he’d told them that something like that would happen. Who just let’s an eighteen-year-old have exclusive access to an aquarium and let them have sex, in the open, pressed up against a fucking fish tank?”

They sat there, quietly for a moment, both contemplating Steve’s question.

“Honestly, Stevie, all I can say is you need to talk to him. If it’s that big of a concern, you just have to be blunt and bring it up. I mean, I doubt it’s anything shady, but really he could be getting that money from anywhere. You don’t want to come to find out that he’s selling drugs or stolen goods or something. If Tony’s going to be around you and Coraline, you need to make sure everything is on the up and up.”

Steve didn’t want to admit it, but Natasha was right. He knew Tony couldn’t have been up to no good, but his imagination was starting to get the better of him. He was just going to have to suck it up and ask Tony about this.

“Alright well, I’m going to hang out with Tony and his crew for a bit.”

“Crew? Who still calls a group of friends a _crew_?” Natasha asked around a laugh.

“Fuck you, that’s who,” Steve answered with a smile.

As he walked out the door, Natasha yelled behind him; “Love you too, Stevie!”

* * *

“Anthony Edward Stark, I cannot believe you!” Pepper said in a stern voice, as Tony stepped into her dorm.

“What did I do? I haven’t seen you in, like, two days, I couldn’t have fucked up badly enough to warrant that greeting!” Tony whined, flopping onto Pepper’s bed.

“Rhodey told me that you still have yet to tell Steve about your family,” Tony groaned instantly. He told Rhodey, in confidence, about the little spat that he and Steve had over his Valentine’s day gift. He should have known better that somehow it’d get back to Pepper that he wasn’t being one hundred percent truthful with his boyfriend.

“Listen, Pep, the right time just hasn’t come up…”

“Please Tony, do tell me, when exactly is the right time to just say ‘hey by the way my dad’s--and my--name is on the side of a building and I’m loaded. Hurr hurr hurr’?”

“Well when you put it like that, I suppose the answer would be never,” Tony answered in a small voice. Deep down, he knew that he deserved everything he was getting from Pepper. “And I don’t sound like that. Never have I ever said ‘hurr hurr hurr’.”

He hated that he wasn’t being completely honest with Steve, more than anything. All Tony wanted was to come clean about his identity, and move past it, but a small part of him kept insisting the worst. No matter how ridiculous his thoughts were, Tony truly feared that Steve would leave him once he knew the truth.

“And okay, yeah, I hear ya. It’s just… it’s not so easy this time around. I stand to lose a lot here, so I just want to make sure that I don’t screw things up.”

Pepper gave him an apologetic look as she rested her hand on top of his. “Tony, the only way for you to screw things up is to keep lying. Honestly, just… trust that Steve loves you enough to work through this.”

Before Tony had a chance to respond, Rhodey walked in. He quickly dodged the sock that Tony hurled in his direction.

“What the actual fuck Stark?” Rhodey asked around a laugh.

“ _James Rupert Rhodes_.” Tony said, voice seething with mock anger.

“Whoa, why the full name?

“You _know_ why.”

All three friends sat in silence, Pepper and Rhodey clearly finding this funnier than Tony did. He sat there, full pout on his face, until Steve walked through the door.

“Steve!” Tony yelled, jumping up to greet his boyfriend by literally jumping on him.

“Well hello to you too,” Steve chuckled.

“Can we go now? We should go now!” Tony said, practically bursting with excitement, legs still wrapped around Steve. As they made their way out to play indoor mini golf, Rhodey leaned in to Pepper.

“I wish Tony was that excited to see me,” he whispered. Pepper tried her best to stifle a laugh, but promptly lost it when Tony just turned around and hissed before sticking his tongue out at his friend.

“Never mind. I take that back.”

* * *

Cora was wiggling the entire drive to the restaurant. She begged to go to the Olive Garden for her birthday dinner because she saw the commercial on TV about never ending soup and salad and she hadn’t stopped blabbering about how ‘when you’re here, you’re family’.

Both Steve and Tony liked the food, so why not?

“‘S my burfday!” Cora exclaimed to every single person they passed when walking into the restaurant.

“Shh,” Steve said, getting down on one knee to be at eye level with his daughter. “It’s your special day but you can’t yell it at people, okay?”

She nodded bashfully and held up her arms. Steve picked her up and carried her the rest of the way into the restaurant.

“Table for three,” Tony was already saying when Steve and Cora entered the restaurant. “There’s a birthday girl,” he whispered, unbeknownst to Steve.

They got a booth in the back, where they always sat the people with little kids, and skimmed the menus.

“Ony,” Cora whined, bouncing on Tony’s lap.

“Yes, angel?”

She was just opening her mouth when a waiter came to their table.

“I hear we have a birthday girl!” she said, excitedly. “How old are you today?”

Cora bowed her head sheepishly, holding up two fingers.

“Woah! Two whole years old! Your brothers are nice to take you out for dinner.”

“Actually, I’m her dad.”

“And I’m dad’s boyfriend.”

“Oh! I’m so, sorry!” She bounced back like a champ, continuing on to say; “Anyway, my name is May. What can I get you?”

“Juice!” Cora exclaimed.

“Apple juice for the birthday girl, Sprite for me, and Coke for the boyfriend over there,” Steve ordered. “We’re ready to order, too.”

Dinner was a fairly painless ordeal with only one spilled juice, until chocolate cake was thrown at Steve.

“What did we say about throwing food?” Tony demanded, taking the cake away from Cora.

“Not ta,” she mumbled.

“Then why did you throw that cake at your daddy?”

Her bottom lip quivered and she looked up at Tony with doe eyes. “I’m sowwie, Ony.”

“Nope. No crocodile tears, missy. You do not throw food and you _especially_ don’t throw food at restaurants.”

“I love yew, Ony.” She wrapped her arms around him.

“Yes, you do. And I love you very much Coraline, but that does not excuse you from throwing food at your daddy. Now, you and I are going to wait in the car while daddy pays the bill and gets the leftovers wrapped up, okay?”

Cora nodded, sniffling. “Okay.” They walked hand in hand until they reached the front of the restaurant. “Ony, I haf’ta go potty.”

“Good girl for telling me! C’mon, let’s go. Daddy is going to be so proud of you.”

Tony led her into the bathroom and helped her get off her pants and Pull-Ups.

Once Cora was seated on the toilet, she squeaked; “Do you hate me?”

“No, honey. I don’t hate you one bit.”

“Does daddy hate me?”

“Nope. Now do your business so we can go tell him that you asked to come to the potty, okay?”

She nodded.

Tony never thought that at eighteen years old he’d be overjoyed over a two year old peeing, but he felt his entire body swell with pride. Sure, she wasn’t potty trained by a mile, but it was a step. He cleaned her up, washed her hands, and carried her out to the car where Steve was waiting.

“Where were you guys?” Steve asked.

“Do you want to tell him or do you want me to?” Tony asked, looking at the little girl in his arms.

“Ony took me to da potty! I said I hadda go and he took me!”

“And you went potty like a big girl?”

Coraline nodded and Steve took her in his arms, spinning her around. “Who’s my big girl? You! You! You!” He repeated, smothering her with kisses.

* * *

It was the night before Spring Break started, and Steve and Tony lay tangled up, sweaty and sated.

“So… here we are saying goodbye again,” Steve spoke, trying to even out his breathing.

“Yeah, I… yeah,” Tony offered, just as breathless. He had received a call from his dad the night of Coraline’s birthday, demanding that he come home for Spring Break. Though he put up more of a fight this time, Tony still gave in, and promised he’d make it home for the break.

It took him about a week and a half to actually tell Steve that he’d have to cancel on all of the plans they had made, thanks to his family. Steve tried to be understanding, but Tony could tell that this was wearing him thin.

“So where are you going for this break?” Steve asked, as Tony moved to rest his head on the blond’s naked chest.

“Home,” Tony answered around a yawn.

“Well… where’s home?” Steve asked, trying to remain patient.

“That home, the one with my parents? Nowhere I want to be. My real home is here, with you and Cora and my friends. I don’t want to leave any of you, but my dad’s an insistent asshole who always seems to get his way no matter what.”

Steve knew he should probably just drop it; Tony never talked about his family and there was probably a very good reason for that. But he began to realize that he had a lot of questions about Tony that needed to be answered. Whether either of them liked it or not.

“So, I don’t mean to ruin the moment,” Steve started, causing Tony to prop himself up on his elbow to look the blond in the face. “But you left for Christmas break without telling me where you went. You came back and you never talked about your trip. Now, you’re going ‘home’, wherever that is, and you’re not really giving me any information. What if something happens and I need to get ahold of you?”

“Babe, I’ll have my cell phone, you can call or text me any time,” Tony offered, seemingly confused by the conversation at hand. Steve just sighed before he continued.

“It just… it seems like you’re trying to shut me out, and I don’t like it.”

“Honey, I’m not…”

“But it _feels_ like you are!” Steve answered, finally losing his patience. Once he saw the hurt look on Tony’s face, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry about being short with you. It’s just that I don’t know what to do, or how to feel about this. I get that your family is a sore subject for you, but I want you to be able to talk to me about the things that make you unhappy. I want you to be able to come to me and let me know when you’ve had a bad day because of something your dad said, or confide in me what is is that’s causing a strain on your relationship with your family. I want to be able to help you through those things, but I can’t if you don’t give me a chance.”

Steve noticed a slight look of fear in Tony’s eyes at his words. He reached up to rest his hand at Tony’s jaw, puzzled by the slight flinch that was given in response.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, genuinely concerned. Tony just gave an apologetic smile.

“I need you to know that I want nothing more than to just unload the cluster fuck of a family history I have on you, but I can’t right now. All I ask is that you give me a little more time, but I promise I’ll tell you anything and everything, I just… need more time.”

“Alright, Tony. Just… let’s get some rest okay?” Steve asked, forcing a smile. He knew Tony saw right through it, but the brunet just yawned returned his head to Steve’s chest.

“I love you,” Tony whispered. Steve kissed the top of his head, pulling him in tighter.

“I love you too.”

Steve really wanted to push this, he couldn’t imagine what Tony had to say that he felt he couldn’t share, but he decided to drop it for now. If Tony wanted time, then the least he could do was give him that. He just wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to wait around for Tony to finally let him in.

* * *

Tony was woken up by the sound of some device chirping. It took a solid minute of annoyed confusion to realize that his phone, iPad and laptop were ringing. He picked up the iPad first and clicked ‘accept’.

“Hello?” Tony answered, groggily.

“Hey there sleepy head,” Steve offered, seeming just as tired.

“Is everything alright?” Tony asked, seemingly waking up instantly. It was 7 AM, back on the East Coast, and though Steve had no idea Tony was in California, he knows Steve wouldn’t call so early if it weren’t important.

“Everything’s alright, we just really miss you. Honestly, Cora is going absolutely insane over here,” Steve said, around a tired laugh.

“Is dat Ony?!?” Cora yelled from somewhere off screen. In a matter of seconds, Steve’s face was replaced with a very excited Coraline in her _Frozen_ pajamas.

“Say hi, sweety.” Steve whispered off screen. Cora just waved to the camera and smiled. “Hi!”

Tony barked out a laugh as Steve shuffled to find a position where both he and Cora could be seen on screen.

“That better?” Steve asked, still adjusting Cora in his lap.

“Perfect,” Tony answered, fondly. “So how are things in your neck of the woods?” He asked, moving to sit up in his bed.

“Mommy and daddy took me to see da aminals at da farm!”

“Oh?” Tony asked, “What did you see?”

“I saw lots of moos an’ ducks!”

Both Steve and Tony laughed as Cora continued, in great detail, to describe their family trip to the local farm and petting zoo. After ten solid minutes of her bantering, Steve finally had to interrupt.

“Honey, I think Tony’s a little tired so we’ll have to let him get back to sleep. You gotta say bye-bye now, ok?”

“But I don’t _wanna_ say bye,” Cora whined, sadness in her voice.

“Coraline,” Steve warned. She deflated immediately waving an unenthusiastic good-bye.

“Buh-bye Ony, I love yew,” Cora turned to listen to Steve as he whispered something, and excitedly turned back to blow a the screen a kiss. Steve moved the camera, so that he was all Tony could see.

“Get some rest, babe. I’ll call you later tonight. I love you,” Steve said, sadness evident in his voice.

“I really miss you guys,” Tony spoke, honestly. “I love you both and I can’t wait to talk to you again later tonight. Bye,” he waved, waiting until Steve ended the call.

Tony didn’t have much time to think about how badly he missed Steve before he fell asleep.

* * *

“I heard you earlier,” Howard said, barging into Tony’s room as he worked on one of his personal robotics projects.

“We’ve been through this, Howard. The deal was that I would come out here for Spring Break but I never agreed to actually talking to you,” Tony said, not even looking up as he tinkered with a switch board. In an instant, Howard crossed the room and snatched the items out of Tony’s hands.

“That kind of attitude might fly with your mother--”

“I would literally never talk to mom like that. She warrants some amount of kindness from me,” Tony interrupted.

“You _will not_ treat me with anything less than the respect someone of my stature deserves,” Howard spat out, trying desperately to keep his composure. Tony just looked up at him, smirking as he sat back in his chair.

“What did you want to talk about, _dad_?”

“I heard you talking to your little boyfriend earlier,” Tony’s face fell at those words. Howard picked up on the subtle change in attitude, and grinned. “I hear he has a daughter, too. How cute. You think you’ve found yourself a little family.”

“Shut up,” Tony spoke silently, turning back to his work. He knew all too well what Howard was trying to do, and he wasn’t going to let it happen.

“Tell me, son, does this man even know who you are? Does he know that you come from a prestigious family? One that cannot afford to have a gay son whose boyfriend has a bastard child?”

“Don’t you _dare_ speak about Coraline that way,” Tony seethed, now jumping out of his chair to stand right in front of his father. “You can say whatever you want about me, but you do not get to talk about Steve or Cora like that.”

“Please, boy, sit down before you get too worked up. These people, you think you love them, and that they love you. But you know as well as I do, the second they find out who you are, who we are and all that you have, they’ll use you and rob you of all that you have.”

“You don’t know Steve, he’d never do that,” Tony offered, trying to stand his ground.

“Is that not what you said about the others that you were ‘so in love with’?” Howard asked, moving to examine the items on Tony’s desk with feigned interest.

Tony visibly deflated at those words. Howard was an asshole who wanted nothing more than to see Tony miserable. He knew this, he always knew this, and yet every time, he let Howard goad him with his words, and put doubts into his head.

“I keep trying to tell you that you can’t just fall in love with some mut off the street and expect for them to treat you as anything more than a cash cow. We are Stark men, and we do not end up with just anyone. Your mother came from a prestigious family, and your future wife will too. So I don’t want to hear any more about you dating men, especially this Steve character. When you come home this summer, we’ll introduce you to some nice girls that are of our caliber.”

Tony stood there, shaking, as Howard walked out, a pleased smile on his face no doubt. He wanted to yell, tell his sorry excuse for a father that he was full of nothing shit and that Steve was twice the man and father he could ever be. But Howard’s words rang through Tony’s ears over and over. He had made this mistake before, specifically with his most recent ex, thinking that he’d finally found someone who loved him. It was only a matter of time, though, before Tony realized that the only thing his ex-boyfriend loved was his money.

Tony wanted to believe that Steve wasn’t that kind of guy, but he’d thought the same about so many other, that at this point he wasn’t sure what to think. The only people he had ever trusted in life were Rhodey and Pepper and Bruce, but he was new. They truly saw him for who he was, but every attempt to let someone else in always blew up in Tony’s face. As these thoughts ran through his head, hot tears started to roll down his face.

In that moment, all he wanted was to call Steve, to tell him how horrible his father had been. He pulled his phone out and let his finger hover over the ‘call’ button before he remembered the hole he’d dug himself into. Tony was so tired; tired of the lying and pretending. He wanted to let Steve in, and to trust him with all of his secrets, but he couldn’t if he didn’t open up first.

As he lay in his bed crying, project completely forgotten, Tony promised himself that as soon as he got back to school, he would come clean to Steve about everything. He just hoped that, for once, he could prove Howard wrong, and finally show that he’d found someone who truly loved him.

* * *

* * *

Steve was pacing.

_Pacing_.

Pacing back and forth across his living room. The small apartment seemed smaller as he fought to breathe. ‘Something I need to tell you’ and ‘It’s nothing good’ were both phrases that were very not okay.

Steve hadn’t had the chance to see Tony since he’d gotten back from Spring Break. He was initially excited when he found out that his boyfriend was back in town, but now he was nothing but nervous.

He didn’t need to look down at his phone when it vibrated to let him know that it was Tony asking to be buzzed in. He hit the button and unlocked the door, positioning himself on the couch in a faux casual manner. God, he probably looked as fake as he felt.

“It’s open!” he shouted when Tony knocked.

“Hey babe,” Tony said, shaking out his hair and shedding his jacket. “It’s raining like a mother fucker out there.”

“You’re wearing your glasses,” Steve noted.

“Yeah. My left contact ended up going down the drain this morning and I didn’t have it in me to find and open another pair.”

“Gotcha.” Steve took a deep breath. “Come. Sit. Talk.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Is it possible for you to walk any slower?” Steve asked. Tony was moving at a pace that sloths might envy.

“I’m dreading this conversation, alright?” Tony whined

“How do you think I feel?!”

Tony groaned and got to the couch, dropping down next to Steve. “You have to promise not to punch me in the face.”

“Tony, I’m not gonna--”

“Just promise me, okay?”

“I promise I won’t punch you in the face.”

Tony swatted at his nose, looking everywhere in the room, stalling as long as he possibly could. “New curtains?”

“No,” Steve snapped. “Get to the point, Tony.”

Tony cracked his knuckles, looking at his hands as he did so. “So, uh, I haven’t been one hundred percent honest about who I am. I mean, I haven’t really lied at all, but I haven’t told the whole truth. So, uh, how much do you know about weapons manufacturing?”

“Nothing.”

“Ever heard of Stark Industries?”

“Well yeah, but--wait, what?”

“So, I might have lied a _little_. bit about where my money was coming from. New Years, The Aquarium, the paint set…” Tony leaned his head back and groaned. “Money, Steve. A lot of it. There is a lot of money and I would gladly spend it all on you. A five hundred dollar paint set… for me, it kind of is pocket change.”

“You’re rich.”

“My dad is rich.”

“Which is something only rich people say.” Steve pulled back when Tony reached for his hands. He regretted it immediately because, going by the look on Tony’s face, he’d really hurt him by that simple movement.

“I guess you’re right,” Tony whispered. No, he would not cry. Stop it. Stop closing, throat. “I’m really sorry, Steve.”

“Why did you lie? Or tell the half truth, I guess. However you want to look at it.”

Tony worried his lip. “I didn’t want to be a bank account to you.”

“How could you think for a fucking second that you are a bank account to me? All I’ve ever done is love you and--”

“Because people have told me they’ve loved me before!” Tony shouted. “I’ve been happy and warm but I was nothing to those people. I thought I was in love with them but then I met you and goddammit, Steve. You told me you didn’t care what the internet had to say about me but I was so far into the lie that I couldn’t get out and every single time I went to say something,” Hot, angry tears were streaming down his cheeks now; “Every time I went to say something you got this look like I was special and that I was special as a _person_ not as a Stark and…”

“How many sexual partners have you had?”

“What?” Tony asked, breathing in the snot that was running out of his nose.

“Bucky asked, you said it was none of his business, but you’d tell me if I wanted to know. Now I want to know.”

“Why?”

“Are you going to lie to me again?”

“Steve, that’s--”

“You said you’d tell me if I wanted to know.”

“Is this supposed to prove something?”

“Was that just another lie to you?”

Tony was floored. “Please.”

“Please, what?”

“Please don’t do this.”

Steve deflated. “I don’t want to,” he admitted. “It’s just that… I trusted you. I bared my soul, so to speak. We were… I told you everything and now I don’t know how much of what you’ve told me is a lie and--”

Tony rushed forward and grabbed Steve’s face in his hands, thumbs wiping away his tears. “Shh, baby, no. I understand. You don’t have to trust me right now. I fucked up and I was wrong, but please… please don’t let me go. I love you so fucking much. Please don’t… please don’t break up with me. I don’t think I could… I don’t think I’d survive that.”

Steve sniffed. “I don’t think I could survive that, either, but...”

“No!” Tony sobbed. “No ‘but’. Please. Nothing has to change. I won’t buy you lavish gifts. I’ll do whatever you want. If you want to buy the ice cream when we go out next time, I’ll let you. Whatever you want, I will give it to you. I need you.”

“I need you, too.”

Tony collapsed forward, burying his face in Steve’s neck and sobbing, clutching tightly to him. Steve responded in much the same way.

“Please. Please, Steve. I love you. Please. I’m so sorry. Please.”

“Tony…”

“You don’t have to forgive me right now. I wasn’t expecting you to. But please… please don’t let this be goodbye.” It was instinct that had him crashing his lips against Steve’s, only pulling away to whisper ‘please’ every few moments.

“I don’t think Coraline would be too pleased if Ony wasn’t around anymore,” Steve said finally, leaning his forehead against Tony.

“Really?” Tony squeaked. “So you’re--”

“I’m not breaking up with you. I love you too fucking much.”

“Thank you,” Tony breathed.

“But… I’m not forgiving you right now, either.”

“I will do anything and everything to earn your trust back.”

Steve nodded. “Okay. I believe you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, first order of business: We’re going to have ‘We just had our first big fight but we’re through it now’ sex.”

* * *

It had been weeks since Steve had found out who Tony really was. The remainder of the semester came and went, and though it was a bumpy road, they were slowly getting back to the way things were. There were days when Steve felt particularly insecure, wondering every so often if Tony was lying about this thing or that. But every time those thoughts would pop into his head, Steve would tell himself that Tony really was trying to make things right. It was that thought, that Tony had made the choices that he made because he’d been hurt so badly, that prompted him to start his current art project.

Initially, Steve had no idea what to get Tony for his birthday, but after seeing his reaction to his Valentine’s Day gift, he knew he wanted to paint something. Steve tried to be as secretive as possible, while he slowly collected all the items that he needed throughout the week. When Sunday rolled around, he set up his easel and canvas in the living room and got to work.

“Daddy what ya doin’?” Cora asked from her play table.

“Daddy’s making a painting for Tony’s birthday,” Steve offered, keeping his eyes on his work.

“I wanna help, I wanna heeeeelp!” Cora yelled in excitement. Steve just turned to give her a small smile.

“I’m sorry, nugget, but you can’t help with this one,” Cora’s face transformed immediately and her lip started to tremble as her eyes welled up with tears. Steve scrambled to find a way to fix what he’d done. “Uh… how about this, we’ll make Tony’s birthday cake, and you I’ll let you decorate it.”   

Cora’s face lit up instantly at that. Steve let out a sigh of relief as she went back to playing happily, as if she wasn’t just on the verge of tears a second ago. Steve worked tirelessly on his painting, only stopping to feed Cora and put her down for her afternoon nap. Once he was finished, he looked at the final product and smiled; he knew Tony would love it.

As Steve began to clean up his supplies, he felt a tugging at the bottom of his shirt. He turned slowly to see Cora offering him a piece of paper.

“What’s this, love?” He asked, taking the paper in hand.

“It’s a pi’ture of yew, me an’ Ony! It’s for his burfday!” Steve looked over the picture, smiling wide at the crudely drawn blobs of various sizes, the smallest one wearing something that looked to resemble a bow.

“Do ya like it?” Cora asked, anxiously awaiting Steve’s critique.

“Honey, I absolutely _love_ it! I’m going to put this in a nice frame so it won’t get ruined.” Steve let out a small laugh at Cora’s face. Her whole face lit up, knowing that Steve liked her drawing that much.

“Well, now that we’ve got the gifts out of the way, are you ready to make this cake?” Steve asked, gingerly placing Cora’s picture on the table as he walked into the kitchen. He turned to see a very excited Cora right on his heels.

“Let’s make a cake!”

* * *

Summer break had officially started, and though he had been looking forward to the down time, Tony had decided to sign up for a few summer courses, just to have an excuse to stay on campus. He had been genuinely excited for all the classes that he registered for, but today Tony found himself trudging through his classes all day. He’d spent his entire Sunday continuing to work on his own personal robotics project, and an unforeseen bug in the programming code had kept him up all night. Though it was his birthday, all Tony wanted was to get through his classes and pass out in his room. Any other year, he would have done just that, because if he was being honest, his birthdays had never really been anything to look forward to. But this year he had Steve, who promised he’d find a way to make Tony excited about his birthday again.

So here Tony was, standing outside of Steve’s apartment, absolutely exhausted. Instead of sending the usual text, Tony just dialed Steve’s number.

“Hey babe,” Steve answered, cheerily. Tony just rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“M’here,” he offered. He stood there for a moment, before he heard the buzz that opened the door. Once he got to the elevator, he leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes for just a second. Really, all he needed was five minutes and he’d be alright.

The elevator reached it’s destination all too quickly, and Tony was forced to move again. He managed to make it to the door, and knock twice.

“It’s open,” Steve yelled from inside. Tony took a deep breath, wondering if maybe he could ask Steve to just let him nap instead of making fuss over him. It was only his birthday, after all. It had never really been a special day for his family, so Tony didn’t expect anything more from anyone else.

When he opened the door, though, Tony’s eyes went wide in amazement.

“Surprise! Happy birthday!!!” Steve and Cora yelled in unison as they stood in a fully decorated living room. There were streamers, balloons, and even a ‘Happy Birthday Tony’ sign hung. As he walked through the room, taking in all the decorations, Steve gently put Cora down, moving to give him a kiss on the temple.

“Happy birthday,” Steve whispered, wrapping an arm around the brunet’s waist. Cora tugged on Tony’s pant leg, gesturing that she wanted to be picked up. Once he obliged, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled.

“Happy burfday Ony!” Cora giggled, as Steve moved in to give her a kiss as well, before heading towards the kitchen.

“Hope you’re hungry, babe. I made your favorite for dinner… well, really someone else made it and I had it delivered.” Once Tony saw the bag from _Mama Lucia’s_ , his all time favorite restaurant, he froze.

“Is there… is that…”

“There is chicken parmesan in this box, yes,” Steve answered without having to hear the whole question. Tony calmly let Coraline down, before practically tackling Steve, peppering kisses all over his face.

“Thank you, I love you, thank you thank you THANK YOU!” Tony sang, noticing that his mood had changed drastically since opening the front door. With the exception of Pepper and Rhodey bringing him a mini molten lava cake with a candle in it every year since the beginning of high school, no one had ever really put an effort into celebrating Tony’s birthday. His friends always saw through it when he’d say that he didn’t want to make a fuss about what really was just any other day, and Steve did too.

“I can’t believe you did all of this just for me,” Tony marveled, taking a seat at the table. His mouth was watering at the smell of the food in front of him.

“Well… yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Steve asked, taking his seat after securing Cora in her chair. “This is such a special day, ‘cause without it, we wouldn’t have you. We just wanted to show you how glad we are that you’re here and how much we love you.”

Tony couldn’t find the words to say how thankful he was to have both Steve and Coraline in his life. He just smiled lovingly at both of them before digging into his dinner. It didn’t take long for everyone to finish eating, but once they did Cora became restless. Tony took her out of her highchair, before moving to take a seat on the couch. Once Steve plopped down beside them, Cora began to squirm as if she couldn’t hold in whatever it was that she wanted to say.

“Can we open presents now?” Cora whined, bouncing in her seat. “Please daddy. Please, please, please, please.”

“You do know you don’t get presents, right kiddo?” Steve asked, patting her back.

“Duh. It’s Ony’s burfday,” Cora rolled her eyes. “But he can open the present I got him!” she attempted to whisper.

Tony fondly grinned. “Let’s just open the presents, Steve. She’s not going to stop until we do.”

“PRESENTS!” Cora screamed, taking a running leap onto Tony’s lap. “I’m gonna help you open them, mista. You gotta do it careful so dat ya don’t hurt da presents, kay?”

“Okay ma’am!” Tony saluted. Steve handed over the present and Cora immediately grabbed it.

“Dis one’s mine!” She’d ripped the wrapping paper off before Tony could even touch it. “It’s us, see! Dere’s daddy an’ you an’ me,” she pointed to each of the blobs in turn. “I’m in da middle because I wan’ed to hold yer hand but I wan’ed ta hold daddy’s hand, too,” she explained.

“Well, you’re a very talented artist, Corabelle. In fact, I think you might give your daddy a run for his money some day.”

She blushed and hid behind her hands.

“What do you say?” Steve prompted Coraline.

“Tank yew,” she giggled. “DADDY’S PRESENT NOW!”

“Indoor voices,” Steve gently reminded.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “Here ya go!” Cora handed Tony a small box with a thin bow on it. He looked at the box, slightly confused, but Steve just nervously smiled as he removed the bow and opened the box.

“It’s… a key?” Tony asked, looking over the piece of metal.

“Yeah uh… it’s a key to my apartment,” Steve offered, clearing his throat while rubbing the back of his head. Tony’s eyes went wide, and Steve scrambled to explain.

“I mean, I figure, uh, if I ever needed you to watch Cora again and you needed to leave or something, um… it’d be easier if you had your own key instead of me having to leave mine and you know…”

“Steve,” Tony interrupted. “I get it, you don’t have to try to explain what you were trying to say with this. Thank you and I love you.” Steve sighed in relief before giving a small smile and leaning into Tony’s touch. They sat there like that for a moment before Cora clapped her hands together.

“Next present!” She said, full of excitement. “Daddy says I’m not suppos’a touch dis one, so you gotta go get it.”

Tony gently moved Coraline to the spot next to him and walked over to where Steve was pulling a huge, flat _thing_ out of the closet. The wrapping paper was a heap on the floor as Tony tore it off to reveal a painting--a beautiful, detailed, _magical_ painting--of Steve, Coraline, and himself.

“I was saving the paints you bought me for the right project,” Steve explained as Tony ran his hands over it. The brush strokes. The care. The love that was put into this painting.

“It’s beautiful,” Tony whispered, still in awe. “It’s… I don’t even know what this is.”

“Is it alright?” Steve asked, wincing slightly.

“Alright? _Alright?_ This is a fucking masterpiece, oh shit, sorry Cora. Oh goddammit!”

“Babe, just stop.”

“But this painting... god, I love you so much.” Tony lept into Steve’s arms, wrapping his legs around his boyfriend, and smothering him in a kiss. “Thank you,” he whispered, leaning their foreheads together. “I love it. And I love you.”

“Happy birthday, love.”

“Happy birthday. Oh, well, no actually. It’s just my birthday. Oh geez I’m such a dunce.”

It was then that they saw Coraline answer Steve’s phone that had been on the table. “Hi mommy,” she exclaimed. “It’s Ony’s burfday and we’re openin’ presents!” Her face twisted into one of confusion and she toddled over to Steve and Tony. “Mommy wants ta talk to yew.”

“Thank you, Coraline,” Steve said, taking the phone from the two year old. “Hello Peggy.”

“Steve. Can I talk to you alone for a few moments?”

“Yeah, sure. Hey Coraline, you want to go show Tony the cake we made? I’ll be over in a minute.”

“OKAY!” she yanked Tony’s hand and dragged him into the kitchen.

Steve chuckled and brought the phone back to his ear. “Hey Peg, what’s up?”

“Nana… Nana died last night.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN


	4. Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is sort of short, so we decided to post it a week early.
> 
> **Clementine (tony-starks-nipples)**  
>  Heuheuheu.
> 
> **Emily (fiftyshadesofstony)**  
>  Guys...GUYS! I am SO excited for this chapter, y’all don’t even know! I feel like I should put it out there that this story has slowly but surely taken over all corners of my life and I love it! I don’t think I’ve ever been so utterly in love with anything I’ve written before. Part of that excitement comes from knowing that Clem and I have created a story that not only means something to us, but you guys as well. So thanks to everyone who’s stopped by to read this, or give kudos or comment. We love you all!!!! 
> 
> Before you go judging the choice to use TSWIFT, listen to {this here} song. Listen to it as you read. Weep tears of angst.

“She’s moving back to London? As in London, England?” Tony asked. Steve had kept his conversation with Peggy bottled up until Cora had her inevitable sugar crash from the birthday cake and they’d put her to bed. As soon as he’d closed the door, everything had come spilling out.

“Yeah. She says she wants to be with her parents for awhile.”

“Is she…”

“No. She’s not taking Coraline.”

Steve watched as the tension eased out of Tony. “Alrighty then. First things first. We’re gonna get a bigger apartment. I’d get one just for you but I understand you don’t like me throwing money around so--”

“I don’t need a bigger apartment.”

“Sure we do. There’s all of Cora’s stuff that’s here and then there’s the stuff that’s at Peggy’s and, if I’m moving in, there’s my stuff. And Steve, honey, it worked when she was little, but that converted walk in closet isn’t going to fit a bed in it and she should start sleeping in a bed soon.”

“Hold on.”

“Then,” Tony continued, not even paying attention to Steve. “We’ll have to look into daycares. Without being able to hand Cora off between you and Peggy, there isn’t going to be as much flexibility as to babysitters and stuff. There are some excellent daycares around here and we can obviously afford the best.”

“Tony, wait.”

“Then there’s the matter of school. I can pull some strings and reorganize both of our schedules around hers, so that way we--”

“TONY!” Steve shouted, cutting Tony off. “This apartment is fine. Everything is fine. You don’t need to throw money at me and you don’t need to pretend to be more invested than you are.”

“What are you talking about?” Tony asked, genuinely confused. “I don’t want the people I love most in this world to suffer.”

“Not having billions isn’t _suffering_ , Tony.”

“Why do you always get so weird when I talk about money? Money isn’t a thing for me and I don’t want it to be a thing for you, either. I want to spoil you and your child rotten, but since you won’t let me do that, at least let me give you the best life you can have!”

“You don’t have to buy things for people to like you, Tony.”

“I don’t!”

“Don’t you?”

“No!”

“Then why didn’t you just take me out to dinner for Valentine’s day? Why did you rent out a fucking aquarium to have penguins tell me they love me and fuck against a fish tank? Why did you get me a paint set that is worth more than I make in two weeks? Why do you do these grand things, Anthony Edward Stark? Isn’t loving someone enough?”

“Steve… I just want what’ll make you happy.”

“I was happy just being with you!”

Tony froze. “Was?” he croaked.

Steve took a steadying breath.

“This isn’t some kind of game, Tony. You’re over here playing house, but this is my _life_ we’re talking about. You can keep buying all the gifts you want but none of that will mean anything, especially not to Cora, once you’re gone.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony asked, narrowing his eyes.

“It means that I’ve been too careless for too long, and that has to stop. Currently, I’m the only person I can trust to not abandon my daughter. It’s going to be hard enough explaining why her own _mother_ left, and I refuse to just sit by and wait for the day that I’ll have to break Cora’s heart and tell her that you’ve left too. I might as well just cut all ties now while she’s young.”

The pair of them stood there, in silence, letting the weight of Steve’s words settle on them.

“So that’s it then, you’re just done with me?” Tony asked, angry tears welling up in his eyes.

“It was naive of me to ever think that this would work, Tony. I’ve been putting my feelings before Cora’s and that has to end now.”

“Alright, fine,” Tony said, wiping at his eyes as he made his way to the door. He stood in the doorway for a moment, before turning to look at Steve one last time. “You know, while you’re sitting here trying to figure out how to tell Cora that I won’t be around anymore, you might also want to work out how to tell her that it’s your fault I left.”

* * *

“No! I don’ wanna eat it!”

“Honey, please, I really need you to eat your peas, okay?”

“No! I DON’ WANNA!”

Steve just sat at the dining table, pinching the bridge of his nose. Cora had been absolutely horrid all day, throwing tantrum after tantrum. They had to leave the grocery store without any of their items after Cora broke a few jars while flailing and screaming about wanting a toy. Steve was trying his hardest to be as patient as he could, but he was steadily reaching the end of his rope.

“Sweetheart, I understand that things have not been easy lately. There have been a lot of changes around here and that’s hard. But you can’t keep acting like this, alright?” Steve asked, trying to reason with his daughter. Cora just gave him a pouty face, before pushing her plate off the table, spilling the peas all over the floor.

“I don’ like you nanymore, daddy! I want Ony!”

“Well he’s not here anymore, okay? I’m all you’ve got now, so stop acting like a little brat and just do what I tell you to do!” The words and that voice sounded so foreign to Steve that it took a moment to realize that that was _him_ yelling at his daughter.

Cora looked up at him, utterly stunned, lip quivering. Neither of them said anything, sitting in absolute silence, before she burst into a fit of tears.

“Oh God, Coraline, I am so sorry, honey. Shh, it’s okay sweetie,” Steve tried, as he picked Cora up to hold her in his arms. He tried his best to calm her down, but no matter what, she continued to cry. Finally giving up, Steve pulled out his phone to text Bucky

* * *

 

* * *

By the time Bucky and Natasha had arrived, Cora had finally stopped crying, though she ran from Steve every time he tried to get close to her.The second Cora saw Natasha, her mood changed, dramatically.

“Nasha!” She yelled, running over towards the redhead. Natasha just kneeled down to pick Cora up, only to have the little girl cling to her neck. Steve moved towards them, reaching out to place a hand on Cora’s back.

“Honey, me and Uncle Bucky are going to go out for a little bit, but I’ll be back soon.” Steve’s heart broke instantly as Cora buried her face in Natasha’s neck, holding on tighter in an effort to get farther away from him. Natasha just gave him a sad smile as he walked out with Bucky.

“So, do you want to go somewhere or…” Bucky started, following Steve to the elevator.

“Yeah can we just… can we go for coffee? We can talk once we get there.”

The pair of them walked in silence to the coffee shop around the corner. Once they had ordered and found a seat, Steve ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“So, Cora’s been an absolute nightmare lately. She’s been as difficult as can be, as often as possible, throwing tantrums literally everywhere. It’s as if someone’s replaced my Cora with her polar opposite.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with Peggy leaving or the break up with Tony?” Bucky asked, before taking a sip of his drink.

“Both, I think. She never acted like this before, so I’ve either got to believe it has to do with all of these life changes or that the terrible twos are a real thing and they’re hitting her, hard. But I just…” Steve trailed off, thinking back on his exchange with Cora earlier, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

“Steve, are you okay?” Bucky asked, concerned.

“I yelled at her, Buck. God I… she just wouldn’t eat her peas and she’d been so awful all day and I snapped. She said she didn’t like me anymore and that she wanted Tony and I lost it. How am I supposed to get through raising her alone the rest of her life when I’m already doing such a shit job only a few weeks in?”

Steve had felt the weight of everything crashing down on him for a while now, but this was the first time that he’d admitted it, out loud, that he didn’t think he could do this. Bucky looked at him, sympathetically, before sighing.

“Look, I have a lot of feelings about what’s going on with you, some of which you aren’t going to like or want to hear. But you need to know that you’re not alone in this. You’ve got me, you’ve got Natasha, and you’ve got Sam. I know it’s not really the same in this kind of situation, but we’re all here to help you whenever you need it.”

It wasn’t until Bucky reached out to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder that he realized he’d been crying. He laughed around a small sob, before wiping at his eyes and nose.

“Thanks man,” Steve said, reaching for a napkin. “I think maybe we should head back, I don’t want to impose on you and Natasha, plus I feel like I should probably try to fix things with Cora.”

As they left the coffee shop, Steve thought back on something that Bucky had said.

“Hey, so what is it exactly that you have to say about what’s going on that I might not like?” Steve asked, slowing his pace to allow more time to talk. Bucky looked at him, warily, trying to decide how to word his response.

“Look, you’re like my brother, and I only ever want what’s best for you…”

“I feel a ‘but’ coming on,” Steve interrupted.

“You’re damn right you do,” Bucky yelled, quickly trying to regain his composure. “I’ve never said this before, at least not to you, but Tony is perfect for you--”

“You mean _was_ perfect for me,” Steve corrected.

“No, you asshole, I mean he _is_ perfect for you. I’ve literally never seen anyone love someone else as much as he loves you and Coraline. And the way you two look at him? Christ, Steve. He would have given you the world if you had let him. Hell, he’d probably still do it.”

Steve gave a sigh, before cramming his hands in his pockets. He knew this conversation would happen eventually, and had been preparing himself for it for days now.

“I really appreciate you giving your opinion Bucky, but--”

The brunet stopped abruptly, moving in front of Steve and taking him by the shoulders.

“I don’t think you understand, Rogers” Bucky spoke, quiet anger seeping through each word and causing a shiver down Steve’s spine.

“I am not just some random off the street giving you my meaningless opinion. I am your best friend, telling you that this is a reality, this is _your_ reality. Tony is it for you, okay? You don’t get two Tony’s in life. People are fucking lucky if they get one, you hear? You’ve made a dumbass mistake letting him go and I’m going to need you to get your head out of your ass and realize that before it’s too late.”

Bucky let go of Steve, suddenly, turning to continue on back to the apartment. They walked in silence, not saying a single word until they walked back into the apartment to see Natasha and Coraline playing on the floor.

“Hey, how was coffee?” Natasha asked, pushing one of the keys on Cora’s toy piano. Steve met Bucky’s eyes, before he turned away to answer.

“It was fine, how were things here?”

“We had fun. Cora has something she wants to tell you,” Natasha said, as she pushed the toddler in Steve’s direction. Once she finally reached him, Cora began to tug on Steve’s pant leg.

“Yes, honey?” He asked, crouching down to be at her level.

“I’m sowy for not eatin’ da peas. An’ I’m sowy for bein’ mean ta yew,” She said in a small voice, before tightly wrapping her arms around his neck. “I love yew, daddy.”

Steve stood, holding on to Coraline tightly. “Love you too, nugget,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

“Alright, well I think we’re gonna head out,” Natasha said, grabbing her coat and heading towards the door. “Let us know if you all need anything, alright?”

“Thanks again so much, Nat”, Steve offered, giving her a side hug. He just looked at Bucky and gave a slight nod. “Thanks to you too, Buck.”

“Any time, Steve,” Bucky said from the doorway, closing the door behind him.

Once he and Cora were alone, Steve bounced her in his arms. “Wanna watch _Cinderella_ and sleep with me tonight?”

Cora’s eyes instantly lit up at the proposition, and she began to nod furiously. As they sat in Steve’s bed, his arms wrapped tightly around his daughter, Steve couldn’t help but think back on Bucky’s words. No matter how badly he wished things could be different, and no matter how badly the thought hurt, Steve knew that he and Cora would have to find a way to get by without Tony.

* * *

“So normally I would tell you to go in there and do that Pepper thing that gets him to do stuff,” Rhodey explained, standing outside of he and Tony’s dorm room.

“But…”

“I don’t think he needs to be yelled at. I’ve _never_ seen him like this. You know how he is with emotions and stuff.”

Pepper took a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever horrors lay behind the door. If everything Rhodey was saying was true, she was about to walk in and see a human disaster.

“Hi, Tony,” Pepper cooed, hesitantly walking through the door.

“Hey, Pep.”

“Whacha up to?” she asked, carefully making her way to his bed.

“Taylor Swift has this acoustic version of her song _Forever and Always_. Well, it’s called the piano version. It’s on the 2009 Platinum version of her Fearless album.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.” He still hadn’t looked at her.

“Is that what you’re listening to?” she asked, sitting on the edge of his bed. He nodded and made a pitiful whine.

“It’s all I’ve listened to since--” his voice broke and he buried his face into his pillow. After a few moments, he surfaced. “Howard was right.”

“No, Tony.” Pepper soothed, running her fingers through his greasy hair. She tried not to think about when the last time he showered was. “No, he wasn’t.”

“He said that… Steve,” it was as if the word physically hurt him to say. “He said that Steve would rob me of everything I have. He was talking about money, which Steve obviously wanted nothing to do with, but I still ended up losing everything.”

“Oh, honey.”

“You know that feeling where you just… you feel so low you can’t feel anything at all?”

“You’re quoting the song.”

“I know.”

They sat in silence, her running her fingers through his hair, him humming along to the song he’d listened to hundreds of times since Steve broke up with him.

“Pepper?”

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Was I that bad of a boyfriend?”

Pepper sighed. “When we were dating we were different people. It was high school. We were in California. We’ve grown up since then.”

“Yeah. But… Steve was sure that we were destined to break up so he just decided to end it now. Is there something inherently wrong about me that makes me unlovable?”

Pepper slapped his shoulder. “What kind of talk is that?”

“Huh?”

“You’re a stubborn bastard and an asshole a good portion of the time, but you are a good person, Tony. You’re kind hearted and you look out for others. You put your heart and soul into the things you care about.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Let me ask you this: did you love Steve?”

“ _Did_ I? _DID_ I?” Tony finally rolled over to look at Pepper. His eyes were sunken in and red rimmed. “I still love him. I’m so fucking in love with him. When we first broke up I thought ‘Okay, time to go out and get drunk and fuck around.’ But then, it was like… no. I couldn’t do that. I have to be good. I have to be good and maybe Steve will want me back.”

“I don’t think it works that way, sweetheart.”

“He broke up with me on my birthday.”

“Oh, Tony.”

* * *

Steve had been applying for jobs all summer, and finally heard back from the Olive Garden, of all places. When it finally came time for his interview, he stood outside. He could hear Cora telling everyone it was her birthday. He could see the proud smile on Tony’s face after he took Cora to the bathroom. His hand felt cold without Tony’s in it. So much was riding on him getting this job and all he could think about was the last time he had been here; when he was happy. Not wanting to be late, he finally took a deep breath and walked in.

“Hi, I’m here for an interview at two,” Steve said to the hostess at the front. She nodded, giving him a warm smile.

“Great! Just take a seat right here, and someone will be out to speak with you shortly.”

Steve sat in the chair close to the hostess stand, waiting.

“Steve?” Steve looked up and saw one hell of an intimidating man looking down at him.

“Hi, yes, I’m Steve,” he said as he stood to shake the man’s hand.

“Steve, nice to meet you. I’m Nick Fury, people call me Fury. Have a seat here and we’ll get started.”

The pair of them sat at a table in an unseated section for the interview. Once they got started,

Steve’s nerves started to ease. This wasn’t the place where they went for Cora’s birthday; this was the place that he would hopefully be working at.  

“Alright, well I think that’s it for the interview, but I wanted to ask if we’ve met somewhere before. You seem so familiar to me but I don’t know why.”

Steve sat there, nervous again, as Fury looked at him, trying to place his face. Almost immediately, he snapped his fingers, and smiled wide.

“You’re the one with the kid. You came here for her birthday. She threw cake.”

“Yeah. That was Coraline, all right.”

“How’s the boyfriend?”

“We, uh… we broke up.”

“Well, I still find your daughter adorable.”

“Oh… thank you?” Steve responded, caught off guard. Fury didn’t seem like the guy who liked babies.

“Alright, well it was great to meet you, Steve,” Fury said, extending his hand one last time. “You should be hearing from us within the next two weeks about the position. And don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word.”

As he left the restaurant, Steve couldn’t help but smile to himself. For the first time in weeks he felt like he could breathe.

* * *

Tony couldn’t breathe. Sure, he inhaled and exhaled the proper amount of times for a human being, but that was just to keep him alive. An involuntary reflex that his body required him to do. If he were to stop, he’d pass out and then start again in his sleep.

School started again in a few days and Pepper decided that Tony needed to get out of his room, get some fresh air, and become human again before that happened. So here they were, at the Olive Garden where Pepper insisted they go. Tony hated the Olive Garden.

When you’re here, you’re family.

Last time, he thought he did have a family. Alas…

“I’m just going to use the restroom quickly before our waiter comes. When they do, can you order me a lemon water, please?”

“Sure thing, Pep.”

Tony shouldn’t even try to smile. He could tell by the look on Pepper’s face that he wasn’t fooling anyone. As soon as she turned the corner, Tony put his head down on the table and shielded himself with the menu. If he couldn’t see the restaurant, he couldn’t be reminded.

“Welcome to Olive Garden, can I start off by getting you anything to drink?”

“Lemon water and a coke.” He refused to look at the waiter whose voice sounded painfully like Steve’s. Wonderful, he’d progressed to full on hallucinations.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that. Can you repeat, please?”

Tony sat up, ready to fire an insult at the inept waiter who couldn’t take his fucking drink order, but all he felt was numbness when his eyes landed on his waiter.

“Steve?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well...sorry 'bout that!


	5. Sophomore Year; Semester One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter for a few weeks. Read the end of the chapter notes for more information
> 
> **Clementine**  
>  I can't believe the sheer number of thoughtful comments we got on the previous chapter. It means so much that y'all want to communicate with us while we write this. Continue to leave those comments and kudos. They really do make our day.
> 
> **Emily**  
>  oh friends, first of all, thanks so much for all of the kind words and kudos! It's been so amazing to see how invested some of you are in this story! Thanks so so much for loving these idiots and little Cora as much as we do, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!

It had been a full month since Steve had taken the job at the Olive Garden. He struggled a bit in the beginning, but quickly made friends with a few other waiters who were more than willing to help him out.

“So, you ready for the semester to start next week?” Clint, one of the waiters, asked as they walked into work together.

“I wish I could say that I was, but I’ve still got to figure out a more permanent solution to daycare for Cora while I’m in class,” Steve answered walking into the supply closet that also served as the employee coat room.

“Ah, hello friends. Are you ready for the lunch rush today?” Thor, another waiter, quickly asked on his way to refill some drinks. Clint just rolled his eyes, and smiled.

“So ready!” he offered with an overly enthusiastic thumbs up before rolling his eyes.

As stressful as things had been, Steve really was starting to enjoy his new job and friends. He had no idea what the school year would have in store for him, but part of him was looking forward to that challenge.

Once he’d gotten himself together, Steve went out to see what section he’d been assigned for the day. He walked out to his first table and immediately noticed the patron hiding behind a menu. Steve had seen some strange things since he’d started working there, but this was a new one. He just put on his best smile, and made his way over.

“Welcome to Olive Garden, can I start off by getting you anything to drink?” Steve asked in his cheeriest voice. The patron mumbled his answer without so much as lifting his head. Steve just rolled his eyes and tried again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that. Can you repeat, please?” He asked, looking down at his notepad, ready to take the order.

“Steve?” His heart practically stopped once he heard his name. He looked to confirm what he already knew. Tony was sitting at the table in front of him, quite honestly, looking like hell. He seemed thinner, had circles around his eyes, and just looked absolutely miserable.

“Tony,” Steve started, concern evident in his voice. It took him a moment to regain his composure and fall right back into the role of a waiter. “Sorry, um I didn’t catch your drink order the first time, could you repeat it?”

Tony just gaped at the blond before seemingly shaking himself out of his stupor. “I’ll uh… just coke and a lemon water, please.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back with your drinks,” Steve spoke before practically running off. The second he got to the servers’ station he let out a breath he had unintentionally been holding.

“You okay there, Steve?” Clint asked, refilling the soda for his table.

“He’s here,” Steve breathed.

“There are a lot of guys here, you’re going to need to be a tad bit more specific,” Clint said around a laugh.

“Tony. My ex-boyfriend, he’s here. He’s in _my_ section. I just took his drink order.”

Clint went from joking to serious immediately, as he realized just how panicked Steve was.

“Listen, Fury wouldn’t be too happy about us switching sections, so you’re just going to have to get through this, okay? Just try your best to treat him like any other customer. If there’s any funny business, or if you legitimately feel uncomfortable, come find me and I’ll take over. Got it?”

Steve had to take in a few deep breaths before he just nodded and took the soda gun from Clint to fill Tony’s drinks. As he made his way back to the table, he silently kicked himself for never considering that this could happen. The restaurant was right off campus, so of course Tony would eventually stop by. What truly scared him was the fact that Tony had ordered two drinks. The rational side of Steve knew that he was probably there with any one of the many friends Tony had. But the irrational side of him, and apparently the louder side, was terrified that he was on a date with someone else.

As he rounded the corner, Steve could have jumped for joy at the sight of Pepper sitting next to Tony.

“Here you are,” He said, placing the drinks on the table. “Are you two ready to order, or do you need a moment?” Steve made a point not to look at Tony, though the death glare he received when he looked at Pepper wasn’t much better.

“I think we’re going to need a moment,” Pepper answered. Steve just bowed his head and walked away, quietly. Once he returned, Pepper placed an order for both herself and Tony with some kindness in her voice. Steve hoped that the change in attitude wasn’t temporary, and lucky for him it wasn’t.

The remainder of his transaction with Tony went smoothly. Once they’d gotten past the initial awkwardness, they were able to conduct themselves like adults.

“Alright, well thanks for dining at Olive Garden. Hope you guys have a great day, and come back to see us soon,” Steve offered, repeating his rehearsed shpeal.

“Thanks Steve. I, uh… I’ll see you around,” Tony replied, with a small smile.

Steve hadn’t put much thought into how his first interaction with Tony post-break up would go, but Steve was pleasantly surprised with how well it had gone. It gave him hope that maybe the two of them could at least maintain a friendship of some sort one day. His mind was racing with thoughts of his impending friendship with Tony, as he looked over the tip that was left for him.

At first glance, Steve just assumed that he’d misread what was written on the receipt. But after triple checking, he saw that Tony had indeed left him a $1,000 tip.

“Wow… if that’s the number of zeros you get around here for serving your ex, then sign me up,” Clint said, looking at Tony’s receipt in amazement. Steve felt his cheeks heat immediately, as he moved to enter in Tony’s payment information.

“This is just a thing that Tony does. He’s got a lot of money so he just likes to tip really well when he can,” Steve rationalized. Clint gave him a disbelieving look, but shrugged.

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself to get through all of this then by all means, keep telling yourself that.”

Steve did just that for the remainder of his shift, every time his mind wandered back to their interaction.

_He was just being nice_ , Steve chanted over and over in his mind. _He was just being nice, he’s not still in love with you, he was just being nice_. It was those thoughts that helped keep Steve together through the rest of his shift.

* * *

Cora needed new shoes. Steve had been putting it off for awhile but his daughter had begun complaining on a daily basis about how her feet hurt. Baby shoes were fucking overpriced as shit, but he refused to admit to his daughter that they had fallen upon hard times, so he decided that he was going to splurge and buy her whatever pair of shoes she wanted at the store.

That was, until she picked out the most hideous neon colored boots known to man. Steve couldn’t even believe that someone had thought they were a good idea to put on the market. Well, he supposed it worked, considering his daughter was standing at his feet, the boot in her hands, whining.

“You said _any ones_ ,” Cora reminded. “And I want deese ones.”

“Coraline, sweetheart, they just aren’t the kind of shoes that you need. You need sneakers you can run around in and play with all the other kids at daycare.”

“All da udder kids will LOVE deese,” she explained, calmly. “Dere _cewl_.”

“I know. They’re very cool. But they aren’t the kind of shoes that you need. We came here to get sneakers.”

“I don’t _want_ sneakers!” Coraline yelled. She threw the ridiculous boot on the ground and started stomping in circles. Finally she sat down on the floor and started screaming. It wasn’t a yell, it wasn’t a shout, but a blood curling scream. Everyone in the store came rushing to where the sound was coming from.

“Coraline, shh,” Steve tried, getting on the floor with his daughter. She just pushed at him and continued screaming. “Honey, you have to calm down.”

She took a break in her screaming long enough to shout, “No!” and try to shove him again.

“Sir, if you can’t calm her down, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Steve, humiliated, reached down to pick up his daughter to leave the shoe store. Once she was off the ground, she was a loose canon. She was throwing her limbs about, punching and kicking at Steve, still screaming.

“No! Want da boots!”

“You’re not getting the boots,” Steve explained, fighting to stay calm. After the incident earlier in the summer he’d told himself that he wasn’t going to yell at Coraline again but she was making it very difficult for him.

This wasn’t the first incident, either. After Tony left, she’d refused to continue potty training. However, she didn’t outright say so, so he ended up cleaning up a lot of accidents before he realized he should probably put her back in Pull-ups. She’d started screaming about how she was a big girl and didn’t need diapers.

Then, there was the time when she had to come into work with him and she ended up running around throwing silverware at people. Steve had been asked to go home early. He was terrified that he had lost his job, but that night he got a call from Fury, assuring him his job was safe.

She’d become an uncharacteristically picky eater.

She’d refused to go to bed at her bedtime.

She fought with the other kids at day care.

His daughter had become a nightmare and he was scared. He had no one to turn to and no idea what to do.

The entire way home she continued to scream about the boots to the point where they were kicked off of the bus. Steve was thankful that Cora liked the bus so he didn’t have to explain that they didn’t have enough money for gas.

* * *

Tony wanted to cry under the table and/or wither away that first time that Steve waited on him and Pepper. He looked like shit, he felt like shit, and he just wasn’t ready to face the man he still loved so desperately. He thought for sure that he would have puked from the sheer nervousness and anxiety he experienced, but by the time he and Pepper left, Tony felt better than he had all summer.

Steve had been so kind to them throughout their entire stay, even making a joke about some of the specials that they had. Tony had been so miserable all summer without Steve, but he’d finally found a way to get his fix. It seemed harmless enough in the beginning, Tony told himself he’d just stop in to the Olive Garden maybe once or twice every few weeks. But it only took two weeks for Tony to learn Steve’s schedule, and to show up every time he was working.

Tony told himself that there was nothing wrong with his plan, after all, he was never insistent on sitting in Steve’s section. That obviously made it a coincidence that Steve was working literally every time Tony set foot in the restaurant.

“Listen, I know that technically you’re not really hurting anyone with what you’re doing, but you’ve got to stop,” Bruce said, walking out of class with Tony a few weeks into the semester. Tony just gave a confused look as they made their way to his car.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about my little Brucie bee.”

“First of all, I need you to stop calling me that. Second, you know damn well that I’m talking about. You going to Olive Garden close to every day.”

“What’s wrong with Olive Garden?” Tony asked, unlocking the door once they’d reached his car.

“Nothing, if you’re going there for the food as opposed to going there just to see your ex-boyfriend.”

Tony started up the car and drove in silence. Part of him knew that he’d get called out on it eventually, but he’d also just hoped that his friends would pity him enough not to bring it up.

“Bruce, I just… I’ll stop, okay? Honest, I will. It’s just that he’s so happy while he’s there. No matter who comes in, no matter how stressed he seems to get, he always seems so happy when he’s serving people. I miss that happiness in my life.”

Bruce sighed heavily, before continuing on. “Have you given back his key?”

Tony froze instantly at the question. No one but Bruce knew that Tony had held on to Steve’s apartment key after their break up. Initially, he’d blamed the high tension and emotions for his forgetfulness. However, once confronted with the reality that he needed to give back the key, Tony conveniently managed to leave the key at home every chance he got. He didn’t want to admit it, but he secretly hoped there would be a reason for him to use it. Though he knew that hope was far fetched, he still couldn’t bring himself to part with the key.

“I just haven’t had the opportunity to give it back yet,” Tony answered, finally.

“Well how about you give it back now, since that's clearly where you've decided we're going…” Bruce suggested, none too pleased to be sitting in the Olive Garden parking lot. Tony just looked at him, exasperated.

“Bruce, you said you were hungry, so I brought you to a place with food. Plus, I don’t have the key on me, so I can’t give it back today, but I’ll bring it with me next time for sure.”

“Alright, Tony,” Bruce sighed, walking into the restaurant.

They were seated almost immediately, and as luck would have it, they were placed in Steve’s section.

“Hey Bruce, Hey Tony,” Steve greeted, taking away the two extra place settings on the table.

“Hi Steve, nice to see you again,” Bruce offered, smiling up at the blond.

“What can I start you guys off with today?” Steve asked, seemingly tired, but still as friendly as ever.

“I’ll have coke please,” Tony said, trying not to stare.

“One of these days, you’re going to have to order something other than coke,” Steve joked. Tony wanted to respond with a witty rebuttal, but he was too busy not being able to breathe thanks to the smile that Steve had just given him. Bruce looked between the two before shaking his head and asking for a water. Once Steve left, Tony finally began breathing again.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Bruce asked, barely above a whisper. “All he did was make a joke, and you nearly just lost it on the spot.”

“I haven’t seen him smile like that, at least not at me, in months, Bruce. Just let me have this. I’ll give the key back tomorrow, and I’ll stop coming in after today so just… let me have this,” Tony pleaded.

Against his better judgment, Bruce obliged. They sat for almost an hour and a half, enjoying their meal, while conversing with Steve as often as they could. Once they had paid their check, and moved to leave, Steve came running after them.

“Tony… hey Tony!” Steve yelled after them. “I need to talk to you.”

Tony handed Bruce his car keys, before turning to face the blond.

“Hey, what’s up?” Tony asked, trying to seem a lot more calm than he was.

“You need to stop doing this,” Steve said in a stern voice.

“I… stop what?”

“This!” Steve thrust a receipt in Tony’s direction. “You cannot keep coming in here and leaving me these kinds of tips. This is my job, Tony, if you want to try to throw money at me, do it somewhere else.”

“Jesus, Steve, with this again? I’m not ‘throwing money at you’. You’ve only been my server maybe four times, and I’ve tipped you the same way I tip everyone,” Tony said, defensively.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Everyone here hopes to have you in their section, because they’ve seen how you tip me, and you don’t do the same with everyone else. You’re generous, yeah, but you’re not throwing thousand dollar tips at anyone else but me. I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but it needs to stop, now.”

Steve didn’t even wait for a response before storming off. Tony stood there for a solid thirty seconds, watching after Steve, before turning to walk towards his car.

“Everything alright?” Bruce asked from the passenger’s side. Tony just started the car, backed up and drove off all in one swift motion.

“Yeah,” Tony finally answered, not once taking his eyes off the road. “Everything’s perfect.”

* * *

Steve couldn’t wait to get home that night. After the scene at work that day, all he wanted to do was punch a wall then sleep everything off. He had been more stressed than he wanted to admit lately--he’d overbooked himself with classes this semester, he’d been working doubles at the restaurant, and Cora was still being a brat--and Tony’s actions really pushed him to the breaking point. He wanted to feel bad for the way he handled things, but he just couldn’t find the energy to care.

Once he put Cora to sleep, Steve planned to just lay on the couch and watch some of his favorite shows. Halfway into an episode of _Firefly_ , Steve heard the sound of someone trying to unlock his door. He looked towards the door, puzzled.

_Maybe it’s maintenance._

He wondered, suddenly realizing that they would have knocked before trying to come in. Before he could make a move, the door flung open.

“Tony?” Steve asked, completely taken by surprise by the sight of the brunet. Tony walked into the apartment, not saying a single word, and just stood there.

“How did you… do you still have my key?” Steve questioned, now becoming furious.

“I came here because we need to talk some things through,” Tony said, placing the key on the kitchen counter.

“You don’t just get to come into my home, uninvited, and demand that I talk to you.”

“Haven’t you heard, Steve? I’m rich, which means I think I can do whatever I want. So if you’re not going to talk, then you’re going to fucking sit here and listen.”

Steve was actually rendered speechless. He’d never seen this side of Tony, so worked up and so angry. He wanted to say that he hated it, but if he was being honest, he wanted to see more of what this Tony had in store.

“If you insist on holding me hostage in my own home, then keep your voice down. Cora’s asleep,” Steve spoke, quietly. Tony moved closer to accompany him in the living room. “You came all this way to talk, so talk.”

Tony took a deep breath.

“I may not have been the best at expressing it, but I loved you with everything I had. I get that you don’t want someone throwing money and gifts at you, but honestly I don’t give a shit. I tried, the only way that I knew how, to love you the best that I could and you constantly keep punishing me for it.”

“I’m not punishing you for anything,” Steve interrupted.

“Aren’t you though? You broke up with me on my fucking _birthday_ for trying to help--”

“We didn’t need your help!”

“Do you understand how fucking insane you sound right now?!” Tony yelled.

“Keep your voice down or I’m kicking you out right now,” Steve whispered, angrily. Tony gave a small nod in apology before continuing.

“Peggy left you with everything here, is it honestly that far fetched to think that I would want to help make taking in your daughter full time a little easier for you? Honestly, Steve, think about that for a second. What person would sit here, watching their significant other go through something like that and say ‘oh sorry babe, looks like your shit out of luck on this one, hope you figure it out’?”

“Tony, I didn’t need you to fix my problems. I’ve been perfectly capable of doing that on my own all this time without you, so I’ll continue to do just fine on my own,” Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Do you even understand how love or relationships work? I feel like if you did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Considering who you grew up with and the examples you had, you are literally the last human being who should be lecturing me on love,” Steve snapped.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Tony asked, narrowing his eyes. Before Steve had a chance to react, Tony grabbed him by the arms and shoved him against the wall. “What the _fuck_ did you just say to me?”

Steve drew in a ragged breath. Tony had never man-handled him like this before, and though he wished he didn’t, Steve liked it.  
“You want to sit here and pretend that you’re absolutely perfect? Fine, Steve, we’ll play that game. Tell me, then, what do I need to do to be enough for you, hmm? How much of myself do I have to give before I’m finally fucking worthy enough to have you?”

Tony was angry, that much was clear. He was breathing heavily, and his grip had tightened around Steve’s arms. It was all too much and yet not enough. Steve wanted more, he _needed_ more. In an instant, he’d pushed Tony away, freeing himself, only to pull the brunet into a bruising kiss.

Tony’s heart was pounding and his blood was boiling and every breath was shallow. All he wanted was to kiss Steve like he used to kiss Steve, but instead he was met with a kiss that was rough, a blur of teeth and tongues, sloppy and uncoordinated. It was nice, but it wasn’t a Steve kiss.

Tony wasn’t sure what to do with his hands but Steve had no such problem. Within moments, Tony felt Steve’s cold hands under his shirt. Steve broke the kiss just long enough to get Tony’s shirt up and over their heads, along with his own.

“Steve,” Tony panted. “Wait.”

“Do you or don’t you want this?” Tony’s eyes raked over his ex. Steve’s cheeks were flushed and there were red marks on his chest and arms where Tony had been grabbing at him. His button and zipper were undone. Disheveled Steve. His achilles heel.

“Yeah. I want to.”

“Get on the couch. I think I still have some stuff in the bedroom.”

Steve left in a hurry and Tony took shaky steps to the couch. Sex with Steve was about to happen. When he heard Steve starting to walk back to him, he told himself to remember each part of this. The last time he and Steve had had sex, he hadn’t _known_ it was going to be the last time, so he couldn’t enjoy it to it’s fullest. Now, he knew. He reminded himself to remember.

He wanted to remember the way it felt when Steve put the lube on his finger and twirled it against Tony’s entrance. He wanted to remember the way Steve used his middle finger to rub against his prostate while cupping his balls and kissing the head of his cock. He wanted to remember the way it felt when the head of Steve’s cock entered him. He wanted to remember the look on Steve’s face as he pushed all the way in.

The way Steve’s breath hitched with each thrust.

The way Steve looked when Tony mentioned that he wanted to ride him.

The way Steve’s head leaned back as Tony casually rocked back and forth in his lap.

The way Steve’s eyelids fluttered when Tony placed gentle kisses to them.

The way Steve’s cock felt as it slid against his prostate.

The way Steve whispered “I’m gonna cum.”

The way Steve grabbed onto Tony’s hips as he did.

The way Steve continued to thrust up into Tony until Tony came between them.

The way Steve felt so strong as he held Tony, when they were both shaking, coming down from their high.

The way Steve smelled like the shampoo Tony bought him when Tony kissed behind his ear.

Tony wanted to remember it all.

“Tony,” Steve murmured.

“Yeah?” Tony couldn’t keep the smile from his face. God, it wasn’t just sex. It was sex with _Steve_.

“I…” Steve took a long breath. “I think you should leave. If you fall asleep then Cora might see you and--”

Tony sat up, fighting tears as he grabbed at his clothes. He didn’t bother putting them on, just held them over his junk as he ran out the door. Once he slammed it behind him he realized that he’d left the key inside. He fell to the floor and cried until he couldn’t anymore.

* * *

Steve sat at his computer nervously waiting for his Skype call to go through. It'd been about three weeks since he'd started having Skype video calls with Peggy so she could talk to and see Coraline. They had both been cordial with one another, for the sake of their daughter, but they had yet to actually talk about Peggy leaving.

When he got an email from her saying that she wanted to talk to him as soon as he woke up, Steve knew he was in for a very unpleasant conversation.

As the video call screen popped up, Steve took a deep breath.

"Hey," he said, giving a sheepish wave. Years of being best friends with Peggy told him that the look on her face meant she was not happy with him.  "Is something wrong?" He asked, knowing full well the answer would be yes.

"Why did you break up with Tony?" Peggy asked in a stern voice. Steve flinched as if he'd actually been hit by her question. Out of all the things he expected her to say, that definitely wasn't one of them.

"I figured it might be best for Coraline if there weren’t people around that I couldn't trust not to abandon her..."

"Is that what you think I did?"

"Well you did practically just drop her off at my doorstep with no real explanation, so yeah, kinda," Steve answered, fully aware of how immature his attitude made him seem. Peggy just gave a tired laugh and shook her head.

“Steve, I love you, I always have and I always will. You are one of my best friends, you’re the father of my child, and I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it. With all that being said, you might be the most aggravating, stubborn ass I’ve ever met.”

“How did this become about me? I thought we were talking about you just up and leaving me and Cora behind.”

“No, we’re definitely talking about you, and how you’re an absolute idiot who’s made a colossal mistake.”

Steve stared at the computer screen in confusion. Peggy had always been the one person in his life who wasn’t afraid to tell him when he’d made the wrong decision. He figured she’d be disappointed, but he never expected her to be this upset over his breakup with Tony.

“Why does my love life matter so much to you? Tony and I gave it a shot and I realized it wasn’t going to work. Why are you giving me such a hard time about this?”

“Because you and Tony were supposed to give her the family you and I never could,” Peggy yelled. Steve sat, stunned for a moment.

“We… what?”

Peggy sighed, wiping at her eyes before she continued. “Haven’t you wondered why I’d been having her stay with you more and more? I mean, I honestly did need the help more often than not, but Steve she was miserable without you and Tony. She’d come home and talk for hours about how much fun she’d had with the two of you, and how much she loved Tony. There would be days when she’d go absolutely insane when she found out that she wouldn’t be seeing you guys.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything about this?” Steve asked, all anger completely gone from his voice.

“What was I supposed to say? I knew you couldn’t see it, but it was obvious that the three of you were becoming the family that we’d always wanted Cora to have. I just knew that she would be better off with you and Tony having primary custody.”

Peggy was trying her best to hide her tears by dabbing at her eyes every so often, but Steve knew.

“You know you didn’t have to move all the way to London to give me primary custody. You could have stayed here and we would have worked something out,” Steve offered, as sweetly as he could.

“After Nana died, what little she left Sharon and I either went into her funeral costs, or covering any debts she had. Sharon and I had nothing, we quite literally had no other options but to move back home,” Peggy offered around a sniffle, abandoning all hopes of hiding the fact that she was crying. “It was a hard decision, but I couldn’t take Cora away from you and Tony. It wouldn’t have been fair to you or her.”

Steve took a moment to let everything sink in. He’d been trying so hard to take care of Coraline on his own, when Peggy had never intended for him to do so in the first place. She believed so completely in the love that he and Tony had that she left her daughter in their care, knowing that they’d be able to give Cora a life that she felt she couldn’t. That realization hit Steve like a ton of bricks, and immediately he thought back to the previous night. He’d been so heartless in how he acted towards Tony, and to kick him out after they’d had sex…

“Peggy I… I fucked up” Steve spoke, dropping his head in his hands. “So badly.”

“I’m sure whatever it is that’s happened between the two of you, you can fix things. You do want to fix things, don’t you?”

Steve considered the question. He thought back over the last few months, remembering how difficult and horrible everything seemed without Tony by his side.

“Yeah… I need him, Peggy. I need him.”

Steve had spent so long trying to convince himself that he’d made the right decision, breaking up with Tony. He wanted to believe that one day he’d wake up and everything wouldn’t hurt so much anymore, but he knew he couldn’t keep lying to himself. This was the first time he’d finally admitted that he wanted Tony back, and Steve felt both excited and terrified.

“Look, Steve, I don’t know all that’s happened between the two of you, but you have to try to make things right.”

“I know, you’re right Peg, I’m just going to have to work really hard to fix this. How’d you hear about us breaking up anyway?” Steve asked, remembering that she wasn’t even on the same continent anymore. She just smiled into the screen.

“Just because I left doesn’t mean I don’t still talk to my friends over there. Word got back to me pretty quickly, actually, but I was waiting for you to fix it up yourself. But now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, can I say hi to Cora, or is it too early?” Peggy asked, clearly excited for the chance to see her daughter.

“It’s never too early for you, hold on,” Steve moved quickly, and after a few minutes he returned with a slightly groggy Cora.

“Look, nugget, look who’s here to say hi,” he said, trying to direct her attention to the screen.

“Hey, noodle, how are you?” Peggy asked, softly. Cora perked up immediately at the sound of her voice, and smiled wide once she looked at the computer screen.

“Mama! Whacha doin’ in dere?” Cora asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and poking the screen.

“Honey, she’s not in the computer, she’s in England with your Granmom and Grandad, remember?” Steve reminded Cora. She nodded, as if she understood, then turned to look at the screen again.

“Mama, I miss yew. When ya’ gonna come home?”

“I miss you too,” Peggy said, heart visibly breaking from having to be so far away. “But I’ll be home very soon, okay? I’ve just got some things that I need to do here, and then I’ll be back to give you the biggest hug and kiss ever!”

Cora giggled at the thought, bringing a smile to the face of both of her parents.

“Alright well mama’s gotta go, noodle, but be good for your daddy okay? I love you,” Peggy said, blowing a kiss at the screen. Cora tried mimicking the gesture, before waving.

“Bye mama, I love yew!”

Once the screen went blank, Steve stood to walk towards the kitchen.

“Let’s get you some breakfast, okay? How do pancakes sound?” Cora clapped her hands excitedly in lieu of a verbal answer. Steve just laughed, moving to get all the the materials and ingredients together.

* * *

Steve was on edge at work. Making roll ups had become second nature to him, but now his hands kept fumbling and he had already stabbed himself with a knife twice.

“What happened to you?” Clint asked when he came to the servers’ station after bringing waters to his first table.

“I…” he hadn’t known Clint that long, but who was he going to tell? Bucky would flip shit, Sam wasn’t answering his phone, and Nat would immediately go and tell Bucky, so he was back to square one. “I had sex with my ex-boyfriend last night.”

“The really rich one that’s always in here and gives you four-digit tips?” Clint gaped.

“That would be the one.”

“The one that’s coming into the restaurant right now?”

Steve whipped around to see that Tony was in fact storming through the doors. He raised a hand to the hostess as if to say ‘Not now’ as he continued towards Steve.

“We need to talk.”

“I’m at work.”

“I don’t _care_.”

“I know you don’t.”

“I am not just going to sit around and ignore the fact that _we had sex last night._ ”

Steve cleared his throat. There were people a few tables over that were staring at them.

“Not only that, but you just… you told me to leave. _You_ kissed _me_. _You _asked to fuck _me_. _You_ are the one who keeps taking my heart and stomping on it when all I ever do is try to care about you! That is all I ever do! Since day one it’s been you. Fuck, instead of picking the smartest kids in the class to be in my group for the fucking philosophy project, I picked the guy that was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, because even then I didn’t want to just look at you, I wanted to spend time with you. I didn’t even _fucking know you_.” Tony was crying. When he made the plans to come and do this tonight, he told himself he wouldn’t cry. “I don’t even know what I’m talking about or why I’m in here every fucking day because I still just want to be with you. Sitting alone in a crowded restaurant with a billion other people around is horrible but I watch you smile at people and talk and joke and… I sound like a stalker but _I love you so goddamn much_.”__

“I’m sorry.”

“Whu?” Tony asked, batting at his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Steve repeated. “I’m so sorry for everything that I have done to you over the past few months.”

“I forgive you.”

“You do?”

“I… yes.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“I know.”

“But you do?”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.”

“Even after--”

“Yeah. Even after.”

“Just kiss!” Clint squealed.

Steve leaned in and kissed the corner of Tony’s mouth. “I’ll text you after work?”

Tony smiled.

* * *

It had been a week since Steve and Tony had worked things out. They both agreed that they wanted to get back together, but that they had a lot of things to work through before they could get back to where they were.

“What if we just… start over again?” Steve asked, as Tony moved to rest his head on his chest.

“We literally just made out for like… an hour. I don’t think we can just start over,” Tony said around a laugh.

“No I mean, really, let’s just wipe the slate clean. Now that everything is out in the open, I feel like we need a fresh start, you know?”

“So, it’s kind of like we get a redo of everything? Another first date, first kiss… first time?”

“Exactly! I just… I think we should take the time to relearn everything about each other, now that there aren’t any secrets between us.”  

It had sounded like a great idea at the time, but the more Steve thought about it, the more nervous he became as he got ready for their date. He found himself wanting to make sure he impressed Tony all over again, as if he was making a legitimate first impression.

While he went through his third outfit change, Steve heard a knock at the door. His heart skipped a beat at the thought that Tony had just showed up super early. He quickly made his way to the door, surprised to see Pepper on the other end.

“Oh, Pepper… hey,” Steve said, obviously confused. “I’ve got to say, I wasn’t expecting you, but it’s a nice surprise nonetheless.”

“Is it okay if I come in?” Pepper asked, skipping all pleasantries.

“Yeah, of course. Are you with Tony? I’m expecting him soon, but he didn’t say anything about bringing you.”

“No, I’m here alone. Tony doesn’t know that I’m here right now, but he is the reason for my visit,” Pepper said, standing in the middle of Steve’s living room. This was the first time Pepper had ever seen his apartment, and Steve couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about it. His place wasn’t a mess by any means, but he was glad that Sam had picked Cora up earlier, giving him a chance to clean up the toys left lying around. There weren’t many; Steve was very particular about her putting her toys away.

“Sure thing, Pepper, please have a seat,” Steve offered, taking a seat on the couch as well. “Now, what it is that you wanted to talk about?”

Pepper seemed a little uneasy, thinking over her next words, but once she met Steve’s eyes she just sighed.

“Look, I’m glad that the two of you are back together, but there are some things I need you to know this time around.”

All Steve could do was nod for her to continue.

“You broke Tony in a way I’ve never seen before. He was completely and utterly miserable when you weren’t together. He went through days where he wouldn’t even get out of bed, he was so crippled by the fear that he had lost you and Cora forever. It might not have seemed like much, but he poured everything he had into his relationship with you, and you just tossed it all away.”

“Pepper I… I was scared,” Steve tried to rationalize. “I had no idea why Peggy was really leaving Cora with me, at the time, but I was horrified that the same would happen with Tony.”

“So much so that you completely managed to miss the fact that he was trying to tell you that he wasn’t going anywhere.”

“What?” Steve asked, genuinely confused.

“The plans he was making, I get that they seemed a little overwhelming and all but you have to understand where he’s coming from. The things that he was planning with you, the apartment, daycare, moving around your school schedules… he was trying to do things for you, both of you, that his father never did for his family. He wants to be the best he can for you and Coraline, but he doesn’t really know how to do that without using his money.”

Steve really considered Pepper’s words, thinking back on Tony’s actions prior to their breakup. He’d only ever seen all the extravagant gifts as Tony trying to buy his love. It had never occurred to him that that was Tony’s way of trying to _show _his love, not earn it.__

/

“I’ve made a mess of all of this, I know that. But please trust me when I say I’m going to spend however long it takes making up for it,” Steve said, more to himself than Pepper. “We’re completely starting over this time, and I want to show Tony that I love him despite who his father is, and how they’ve treated him.”

“I’m glad to hear that Steve,” Pepper said, giving a small smile. “But I want you to know that this can’t happen again. Tony wouldn’t be able to stand having you break his heart like this twice. So if you say you love Tony and that you want to make all of this right, you have to mean it. Because I will not let you destroy my best friend the way you did, ever again. Are we clear?”

Steve understood where Pepper was coming from. Had he been on the other end of this breakup, he was certain Natasha would be giving Tony the same speech. He got why she was doing this, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. Pepper seemed like a very proper and polished woman, but he knew better than to underestimate a threat like that coming from her.

“I… I understand,” Steve answered, wringing his hands in his lap.

“Alright, great. Tony should be here soon, so I suppose I’ll get out of your hair,” Pepper said, standing to walk towards the door.

“Hey, before you go,” Steve started, “ I just wanted to thank you for looking out for Tony.”

“No need to thank me, I’m just doing my job as his best friend. Oh and don’t worry, you look great.”

Steve smiled wide at Pepper as she waved goodbye before closing the door behind her. He wanted to think that Pepper believed his words, that she understood that he meant what he said about making up for his actions. But he knew it would take some time for her, for anyone, to truly believe that he was in this for the long haul. As he received the text from Tony saying that he was downstairs to pick him up, Steve promised himself that no matter what, he would do whatever it took to make sure that above all else, Tony knew just how loved he truly was.

* * *

Tony sat in his car waiting, nervously, for Steve to come down. He had been waiting for this moment for months, and now that it was here, Tony felt that he could quite literally puke on the spot. He had butterflies in his stomach, but not the cute fluttery kind. These were the kind that felt like a tornado tearing him apart from the inside out with nerves, and he hated it. All Tony wanted was to relax and enjoy this fresh start, but he couldn’t help but worry that Steve would change his mind and back out.

Since they’d made up, Tony had spent day after day convincing himself that Steve would eventually leave for good. He’d opened up to Steve about his family and their money, and that seemingly drove him away. Tony wanted to believe that Steve would be able to love the real him just as much as he had before learning his real identity. Really, he did. But every argument they’d had in the last few months would always pop up in his memory to remind him otherwise.

As he looked up from his phone, Tony saw Steve slowly walking over. The feeling that he felt was much like what he’d experienced the first time he’d seen the blond in class the year before. He felt the need to sit up taller, puff out his chest, and plaster on the cockiest grin he could to hide the fact that he’d never been so unsure of himself in his entire life.

“Hey,” Steve offered, sliding into the passenger’s side. “So, where are we going for our first date?”

Tony had tried to convince Steve to pick their date--he wanted to avoid the whole ‘picking a place that was too expensive’ thing--but Steve was insistent on their date being Tony’s choice. He wanted the brunet to set the pace, and for him to feel as comfortable as possible wherever they went. The list of places that Tony truly wanted to go where Steve wouldn’t be worried about money, was short, though it was almost a no brainer for him.

“We’re going to Mama Lucias.” Tony answered, pulling out of Steve’s parking lot.

They sat quietly for most of their ride, although at some point, Steve reached over hesitantly to take Tony’s hand. They both smiled at each other, Steve letting out a sigh of relief when Tony didn’t take his hand away.

“I missed this,” Steve said, turning their hands over.

“Missed what?”

“Just… this. Driving with you, holding your hand, enjoying being here next to you. I’ve just really missed being happy with you.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile at that. He was still nervous as all hell, but it didn’t hurt to hear that Steve had been thinking the same thing.

Once they finally got to the restaurant, Tony stepped out of the car, moving to open Steve’s door.

“Oh why thank you kind sir. Such a gentleman, you are,” Steve laughed.

“Well it is our first date, so I figure I have to impress you if I want a second date. However, opening your door makes it easier for me to say you owe me one, so you should buy dinner tonight.”

“You’re the billionaire, and you’re asking _me_ to foot the bill?!”

Tony froze at that. Steve had only ever mentioned his money when he was upset, and he wasn’t quite sure what it was he had done to fuck this up so soon.

Once Steve noticed Tony’s reaction, he turned to pull the brunet towards him. “Tony I… it was a joke, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by what I said.”

Tony searched Steve’s eyes for sincerity, and sighed once he’d found it.

“Part of me knew that was a joke, but the other part of me was horrified you were upset with me about something.”

“Yeah, I could tell,” Steve said, looking down at Tony with concern. “Look Tony, I want us to be able to move past all of this. We’ve got a very serious conversation that we need to have some time in the very near future, but for tonight, I just want us to get back to how things were. Can we do that?”

Tony just leaned up and gave Steve a small kiss. “Yeah… we can do that.”

From that point on, the rest of the night went without incident. Steve and Tony talked and laughed their way through dinner and when the check came, they decided to split it. All in all, it was an absolutely perfect date.

“So I guess I’ll just drop you back off at your place then, huh?” Tony asked, once they got to the car. Steve just looked at him nervously.

“Well, it’ll be at least another hour until Sam brings Cora back home, so maybe you could come up for a bit. Only if you want, though! We don’t have to do anything other than talk, but I just… don’t really want to say bye just yet.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile at how adorable Steve was. “Yeah, I’d like to stop by for a bit,” he answered around a small laugh.

It seemed as though the car ride was significantly shorter the second time around, but once they reached Steve’s apartment, he just grabbed Tony’s hand and led him up in silence. Neither of them said a word until they’d made it to Steve’s couch.

Tony thought back to the last time he was on this couch with mixed feelings. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t enjoyed himself but the memory of Steve kicking him out still stung. A lot.

“So uh… I actually brought you here because I wanted to talk about some things,” Steve started, not quite able to look Tony in the eye. “I wanted to apologize for everything I’ve put you through.”

“You already apologized, and I forgave you.”

“Yeah, I know, but I just really need to say this, okay?”

Tony just nodded, and listened quietly.

“I was scared once Peggy left. The thought had literally never crossed my mind that I’d have to raise Coraline on my own, so when that became my reality, I panicked. Still, that’s no excuse for the way I treated you, or the things I said. I was an absolute asshole, and I’m grateful that you’ve taken me back. But I need you to know that I love you and I’m going to spend the rest of my life making this up to you, if that’s how long it takes.”

Tony just took Steve’s face in his hands and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

“Babe, you asked if we could wipe the slate clean. When I said yes, I meant we were wiping it clean of _everything_. You don’t need to keep apologizing for things in the past, especially when I’ve forgiven you for it all. I appreciate the gesture, but I just want to move forward with you and Coraline, and make up for the time that we’ve lost.”

Steve wanted nothing more than to continue kissing Tony, but once the brunet had mentioned Cora, he looked to check the time.

“I’m really sorry to do this, but Cora will be home soon. I want her to know that you’re back in our lives but I’m just not sure tonight is the best time.”

“Yeah, I understand. We’ll figure something out,” Tony spoke, a little sad about not getting to see Cora. Steve pulled him in for one last kiss, resting their foreheads together once he pulled away.

“You’ll get to see her soon, I promise.”

Tony just gave a small nod, as he made his way to the door. “I’ll text you later tonight, okay? I love you.”

“Love you too, Tony.”

Once the door closed, Steve let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. His “first” date with Tony had gone amazingly well, and he couldn’t wait to finally tell Cora that Tony was back, hopefully for good.

* * *

“Daddy whacha doin?” Coraline asked while Steve played with her hair. It was so fine and soft that Steve couldn’t stop running his fingers through it.

“Someone is coming over to see you, today.”

“Who?!” she exclaimed, turning around in Steve’s lap. “Whosit? Nasha? Buty? Sam? Whosit!”

“I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Steve said, glancing at his phone. “But it seems he’s here, so why don’t you go let him in.”

“Okay!” she screeched, vaulting off of Steve’s lap towards the door. “Whosit?”

“Coraline? Is that you?”

Coraline stood with her feet planted firmly on the ground and her hands on her hips. “Who dere?” she asked sternly.

“Your daddy told me not to tell you.”

“Well daddy tol’ _me_ not ta open da door ta strangers,” Cora huffed.

“You can break that rule, just this once,” Steve prompted. Cora warily looked between her dad and the door, before slowly approaching it and standing on her tip toes to reach and turn the handle.

“ONY!” she screeched, immediately throwing her arms up in the air, as if begging to be picked up.

“Oh my goodness, nugget. You’re so big! When did you get so big? Daddy’s making you eat your veggies, isn’t he?” Tony gushed as he took her in his arms.

She nodded.

“You’re gonna get to be big and strong like your daddy, aren’t you?” She nodded again, giggling. “C’mon. Show me a muscle. Let me see your muscles. Woah! Look at those things!” he squeezed the top of her flexed arm. “You’re _so_ strong! My gosh!” Tony gave Cora a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“Daddy, look! It’s Ony!”

“It is,” Steve said.

“Hey, nugget. Would you mind talking to me one on one for a minute? Would you mind if I kicked daddy out of the room for a bit?”

“Daddy, shoo!” Cora instructed, pointing at the door.

“Coraline! Be nice to your daddy!” Tony gaped. Steve had told Tony she’d been misbehaving, but Tony hadn’t expected her to be rude to _Steve_.

“Sowwie, Ony.”

“Apologize to your daddy.”

“Sowwie, daddy,” she mumbled into Tony’s shoulder.

“Now, ask nicely.”

“Daddy, Ony wants ta talk ta me by myself.”

Steve stood up and kissed the crown of her head. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“Love yew, daddy,” Cora squeaked. She and Tony both waved as Steve disappeared around the corner. When he was gone, Tony carried her to the couch.

“I hear you’re misbehaving for your daddy,” Tony started once they got comfortable. Coraline crossed her legs and twisted her hands together, bowing her head down. “Is that true?”

“Maybe a widdle.”

“I’m not angry with you, sweetheart,” Tony assured. “But I am disappointed.”

Cora sniffled. “‘M sowwie.”

Tony rubbed a hand up and down her back. “It’s not me that you have to apologize to. Your daddy is trying very hard and you have to be nice to him, okay?”

“Mmhmm.” She sniffled again and wiped at a stray tear.

“And I heard that you stopped using your potty.”

She looked up at Tony as if she’d been betrayed. “Daddy told ya dat?” she asked, bottom lip quivering.

“You were doing so well. Why did you stop?” Cora squirmed in her seat. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want.”

“I don’ like Pull-ups,” she whispered.

“Well why don’t we work on getting it so you’re ready for big girl undies again?” The two year old grinned. “I left some craft supplies out in the hall. How about I go get them and we can make a potty chart together, okay?”

“Yeah!”

Cora trailed Tony out into the hallway where he gathered up the craft items he’d brought up.

“Can I cawwy somfin’?”

“Sure,” Tony said, handing Coraline a bag filled with stickers. She gasped when she saw what was inside. “I know, exciting, right?” Tony asked, ushering them both back into the apartment. They went to the couches and dumped out their things.

Tony used a ruler to carefully make a chart, filling in the days of the week while Cora colored next to him. When he was done making the boxes, he handed it to Coraline.

“Do you know how to write your name yet?” Tony asked.

“Sorta.”

“How about you write your name right here,” Tony said, pointing to a space above the boxes, just to the left of where he’d written ‘Potty Chart’. Coraline took the marker from Tony and, with great concentration, wrote COЯA.

“Dere,” she announced. Tony plucked the marker out of her hand and added the “’s” to the end.

“Cora’s Potty Chart,” Tony read. “Now, when you go potty in the potty like a big girl, you get to put a sticker up here,” Tony explained, pointing to the spot that said ‘Pee or Poop in Potty’. “And if you have an accident, we put a little sad face sticker down here.” ‘Accidents’. “We’ll make a new chart each week.”

The next thing Tony knew, he was in a crushing hug with the little girl. “Tank you, Ony,” she whispered. “Tank you fer comin’ back.”

* * *

Steve and Tony stood at the local Halloween store, looking through all of the costumes, slightly puzzled.

“How are we going to put this together? Are you sure this is what she wants to be for Halloween?” Tony asked, looking for something that might help them.

“I’m literally just as surprised and confused as you are,” Steve said, turning one costume over in his hands. “But yes, she has asked to be dressed like a nugget.”

“Like a _chicken nugget_?”

“Like a chicken nugget.”

“Do you ever just sit and think how crazy your daughter is?” Tony asked, around a laugh.

“Yeah, but then I also consider how crazy my boyfriend is, and then I realize that I don’t really mind so much.”

Tony just smiled up at Steve, before continuing to sift through what the store had in stock. They had no clue where to start with making this costume, but they gathered everything they thought might work, along with costumes for themselves, and headed home.

“You know we’re going to need help with this, right?” Tony asked as they walked to the car.

“Yeah, I figured as much, so I called Nat and Pepper to meet us at the apartment.”

“Whose idea was it to wait until the _day_ before Halloween to do this?”

“Yours.”

“Oh… yeah, right, okay then.”

Steve chuckled at Tony’s ridiculousness. Though it seemed like a daunting task, he was beyond excited to celebrate Halloween with Cora this year. It was the first year that they were taking her out trick-or-treating.

Once they got back to the apartment, they found Natasha and Pepper waiting for them.

“Well hello there, lovely ladies!” Tony sang as he opened the door to the building. “I hope you know that we appreciate you helping us with this costume, but my need for perfection is also going to drive you insane… so let’s get started!”

“Tony, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll just let them work. We’ve got no clue how to make a costume, let alone one that looks like a chicken nugget,” Steve said, hauling their purchases up to his apartment. Once inside, everyone spread out to work on their own projects. Though Steve and Tony had found costumes, they’d decided to add some flare to them.

“Alright, is everyone done with what they’ve been working on?” Steve asked, a couples hours after getting started. He looked up to notice that all three of them were nodding. “Well then, when Cora gets here, we’ll all try on our costumes!”

As if on cue, Bucky and Cora came storming in singing _This is Halloween_.

“Bucky… did you show my two year older daughter _The Nightmare Before Christmas_?”

“Of course not! We just listened to the soundtrack on the ride over here… and I may or may not have shown her part of the movie.”

“Oh, really? What part?” Natasha asked with a knowing smile on her face.

“The part where the entire movie happens…” Everyone let out a laugh at that, as Cora ran over and grabbed onto Tony’s leg.

“Ony, I watched da movie. My fav’rite is Sally!”

“She’s my favorite too, sweetie,” Tony laughed. “Now come with me and your dad, we’re gonna try on our Halloween costumes for everyone!”

Cora excitedly skipped into Steve’s room, where they all changed. Everyone knew that Cora would be dressed as a chicken nugget, but it wasn’t until all three of them walked out that everyone realized that Steve and Tony were going dressed as hipster versions of Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar. The whole apartment erupted with laughter as they walked out of the room, holding Cora’s hand. Not only did her costume turn out perfectly, but they added a little bow, to make her look extra adorable.

“Oh my god, these costumes are perfect,” Bucky spoke, trying to catch his breath. He fished around in his pocket to find his phone to take a picture.

“Cora, do you want to tell everyone why you wanted to be a chicken nugget?” Tony asked, picking her up and holder her on his hip.

“Cause ‘m Ony and daddy’s nugget,” she answered, now slightly nervous with all the attention on her.

“Well with you all dressed like that, I’m sure you’ll get so much candy tomorrow night!” Pepper offered, trying to ease Cora’s mood. It worked, as she turned to look at the red head with wide eyes.

“We gonna get _all_ the candy?” Cora asked, slightly above a whisper.

“All of it!”

Steve wished he had a picture of the look of pure joy and excitement on his daughter’s face. It was in that moment that he realized that he had nothing to worry about. There was no way this wouldn’t be the best Halloween of Cora’s life.

* * *

“What do you want for Christmas, Tony?” Steve broke their kiss to ask. They’d just put Coraline to sleep and Tony was reluctant to leave.

“Uh…”

“Oh Jesus, what is it?”

“I spent a lot of money on your Christmas present this year,” Tony warned. “I wasn’t going to but then I did.”

“Oh Jesus.”

“You know how we talked about moving in together come the end of the semester?”

“Yeah?” Steve asked, terrified.

“Well… I sort of bought _myself_ an apartment. It’s _mine_. For _me_. It just so happens to have a room decorated for a little girl and an art studio and be in an area with those good daycares we were talking about in the beginning of the summer.”

“Oh god, Tony. Did you buy us a penthouse apartment that looks over the city or something?” Steve joked. Tony bowed his head. “Holy fuck, Tony. You bought us a penthouse apartment that looks over the city.”

“You don’t have to move in,” Tony assured. “If you think it’s too much, I get it. But… I was just… Cora really needs to start sleeping in a bed and I don’t know how to do things halfway and all of the apartments looked too _small_ even though I knew they weren’t.” Tony ran his hands over his face. “There’s a pool? Like, a private pool for us.” Tony groaned, making to get off of Steve’s lap, but Steve just put his hands on Tony’s hips.

“Shh, Tony. It’s alright. I’m going to love it and Cora is, too.”

“So… you’ll move in with me?”

“Yeah, we’ll move in with you.”

Tony bounced up and down in Steve’s lap. “You’re going to _love_ it, Steve. It’s like a hotel only we’re going to make it so homey and Cora has her own room and there’s this jacuzzi bathtub that’s big enough for the three of us to fit in and we can teach Coraline how to swim and--what?”

“You’re going to have to teach me how to swim, first,” Steve admitted.

“You… you don’t know how to swim?”

“Never had time to learn growing up.”

“Well, that’s not a problem. We have a nice big pool for me to teach you both in. Sound good?”

“Yeah Tony, sounds really good.”

* * *

Cora had woken them up at the crack on dawn Christmas morning and refused to nap, but it just meant that she crashed at 6:30.

“So, the kid is asleep and we have this _whole place_ to ourselves.” Steve grinned. “I have another present for us.” Steve produced a wrapped bottle from behind his back. “Merry Christmas.”

Tony unwrapped the bottle. “Steve this is… very expensive wine.”

“Well, now that I have a sugar daddy, I figured ‘Why not, it’s Christmas.’” Tony licked his lips, looking at the bottle longingly. “What’s wrong?”

“I shouldn't drink.”

“Huh?”

“In AA they say that the first drink gets you drunk. Once I start I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.  I… want to. Fuck, I want to so badly. I don’t want to be a buzzkill but—”

Steve took the wine bottle back from Tony. “I didn’t know you’d gone to AA.”

Tony let out a humorless laugh. “I didn’t. I just looked up some stuff online. When I started dating you I wanted to get clean and it was hard at first, but we weren’t serious enough for me to put that on you, so I didn’t.”

Steve took Tony’s hands in his own. “Now, I swear to you that I am not pressuring you but if I’m sitting here drinking this bottle of wine with you and I don’t let you have too much, would you?” Tony stared at the bottle, clearly torn. God he wanted to.

“You won’t let me drink too much?”

“One glass.”

“Two.”

Steve worried his lip between his teeth. “Two. But then I’m putting it away. Two glasses of wine is enough to get me kind of buzzed and I’ve never had drunk sex before.”

“You drink?”

“Not since high school. Well, I mean… not since Coraline.”

“I got what you were saying. Alright, uncork this beaut.”

Tony followed Steve into the kitchen where he watched Steve take down two wine glasses and pour the deep red liquid into it. “Hide it,” Tony instructed once Steve had finished pouring. “Steve, hide the bottle from me.”

“Okay. Go out into the living room and I’ll be in in a minute.”

Tony carried the two glasses into the living room—their living room—and looked around. This was their house. Garish floor to ceiling windows and overpriced furniture littered the place, along with all of the new toys Cora had gotten for Christmas. There were still a few unpacked boxes from when Steve had moved in the week before, but that didn’t matter. Tony had never felt more at home anywhere in his entire life.

“You’re thinking pretty hard,” Steve joked when he came in the room, sitting next to Tony.

“Just trying to remember a time when I was this happy.”

“For a guy who puts up the tough guy front, you sure are a softie.”

“Shh, don’t let my secret get out.”

Steve threw his arm around Tony and got the glasses off the table. “To us?”

“And our lives together, starting now.” Tony clinked his glass against Steve’s before taking a long swallow. Steve sipped less eagerly, watching Tony intently. “I’m okay, honey. Really. How’d you get this, anyway?”

“Bucky.”

“Ah. Forgot your best friend was an idiot.”

“He got held back in _kindergarten_.”

“Exactly. What kind of moron fails kindergarten? St- _STOP STEVE_ ,” Tony pleaded as Steve started tickling him. “Jesus fuck, stop, stop, please stop.”

“Apologize.”

“For what?”

“Insulting Bucky.”

“No!” Tony gasped, then continued to squirm when Steve started tickling him again. “I-it’s not funny!”

“Then apologize!”

“No!” Tony screeched. “Fuck me.”

“Huh?”

“Fuck me. Right here, right now. Let’s break in this apartment. Fuck everywhere.”

Steve swallowed, seeming to forget all about his tickle mission. “Uh, that sounds… nice.”

“You said you wanted to have drunk sex.”

“I had two sips of wine.”

“Then have more. I’ll go get our stuff.”

* * *

“Now that we’re _finally_ finished unpacking, we should probably invite our friends over for dinner or a game night or something,” Steve said, putting away a few dishes. Tony just moved behind him to plant a kiss on his shoulder.

“Well, once New Years is over, we’ll have a big get-together, how about that?”

Steve reached out to wrap his arm around Tony’s waist, pulling him in for a kiss.

“What was that for?” Tony asked, smiling into the next kiss that was placed on his lips.

“I just wanted to thank you for being so amazing. I still can’t believe we all live together… I still can’t believe this is _our_ home.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile wide at that. All he’d wanted was to give Steve and Coraline the absolute best. He may not have been able to spoil them as much as he would have liked, but at least he was able to put a roof over their heads.

“So, I’m thinking,” Tony whispered, as he laid a trail of kisses from the base of Steve’s neck to his ear. “Maybe once we put Cora to bed, we could test out that jacuzzi tub. Y’know, make sure it really does have enough room for two and all.”

Before Steve had the chance to take Tony up on his offer, someone knocked loudly on the door. “Hmm, I’m not really sure who that could be, but I’m going to go check up on Cora, if you don’t mind getting that.”

Tony just nodded, as he made his way to the front door. Without checking through the peephole, he opened the door quickly.

“Hi, how can I help you--” Tony just stood there, stunned as he looked at the man in front of him.

“Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to invite your father in?”

This was a scene right out of Tony’s worst nightmare. Howard stood right in front of him as he held the apartment door open.

“Is this a joke?” Tony asked, still in shock.

“No, Anthony, this is not a joke. Now let me in before someone sees me out here.”

Tony stepped aside to let his father in. Howard looked around the apartment, taking in the space.

“So, this is the kind of apartment my money can buy, hmm. Seems nice I suppose, but a little big for just one man, don’t you think?”

“Luckily two men and a toddler are living here, so really, it’s not too big at all.”

Howard clenched his jaw at that, and instantly, a chill went down Tony’s spine. As a kid, he knew that the second Howard clenched his jaw, trouble was on it’s way. As an adult, he was fairly certain that gesture still meant the same thing.

“I thought I told you to cut this foolishness out. You’re a Stark, you’re to marry a _woman_ , have kids, and run Stark Industries.”

“Well… I kind of have a kid now, so why don’t we just settle for 1 out of 3 and call it a day?”

“Everything is a joke to you, Anthony!” Howard yelled. Tony actually jumped at the boom of his father’s voice. “You need to buckle down and get ready for once the company is yours, and that isn’t going to happen when you’ve got some low-life and his illegitimate daughter mooching off of you for support.”

“Tony?”

The brunet turned to see Steve standing behind him, looking puzzled, with Coraline at his feet.

“Who is this?” he asked. Tony just gave a deep sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“This...would be my dad.”

Coraline perked up at that, running over to Howard to tug on his pants.

“You’re Ony’s daddy,” she said, excited.

Howard just looked at her, disdain seeping through his expression.

“Get this thing away from me,” he spoke through clenched teeth, shoving at Coraline.

“ _Excuse me_?” Steve spoke, moving forward to quickly grab Cora away from Howard. “This _thing_ is my daughter and her name is Coraline.”

“I don’t much care what her name is, I want her, and you, away from my son.”

Tony moved to quickly jump in front of Steve before he had a chance to do something he might regret.

“Babe, take Cora into the room, okay? I’ll deal with this… please just go,” Tony whispered, trying to calm Steve down. It took a few deep breaths, but after a moment, the blond gave a small nod. He walked to smile down at a very upset and scared looking Cora.

“Come on sweetie, let’s get you changed for bed,” Steve offered, sweetly. Cora smiled wide at that, forgetting about the mean man who’d hurt her feelings only moments ago.

The second they were out of earshot, Tony turned his full attention back toward Howard.

“You’ve got another thing coming if you think you can come into my home and talk to my family like that.”

“Don’t you mean _my_ home? After all, you did you my money to buy it, didn’t you? When are you ever going to learn, Tony, that I’m only ever trying to look out for you. Once you take over the company you--”

“I what, Howard? I’m supposed to become a carbon copy of you? Treat my entire family like absolute shit because I’m richer than God? What if I just… didn’t do any of what you wanted, hmm? What if I just decided that owning a weapons manufacturing company isn’t my thing, so i just sell it?”

Tony could see the exact moment that it all clicked for Howard. The thought had never crossed his mind that Tony could do with the company what he wanted in once Howard was gone. Truth be told, the thought had never really occurred to Tony, either. But once he saw that look on his father’s face, he knew he’d found a way to win.

“You wouldn’t…” Howard spoke, narrowing his eyes.

“Wouldn’t I, dear old dad? All I’m really good for is disappointing you. I don’t see why I should stop doing that once you’re dead. I think I’ll just sell the company, probably to one of our foreign partners and just be done with it.”

“Enough!” Howard yelled, slamming his hand against the wall. “What do you want?”

“I want you to pay me a monthly allowance and I want you to leave me and my family alone. You do that, and I’ll do whatever you want with the company once it’s mine.”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, eyebrow cocked and grin sitting on his face. He’d finally done it, he’d finally managed to get one over on his piece of shit father. Howard had no choice but to give into what he wanted, and it was an amazing feeling.

“Fine… I’ll give you the money, but I need it documented in writing that you will not under any circumstances sell Stark Industries once it is yours. Also, you will be moving out of the mansion. All of your things will be here and, if and when you visit, you will be treated as a guest.”

“You’ve got a deal.”

“Alright. How much are you asking for a month? Will ten thousand a month be enough?”

Tony didn’t even have a chance to answer before Steve came through the hallway to interrupt.

“We’ll find a way to manage with that.”

Howard sighed, pulling out his checkbook, scribbling something quickly, and handing a piece of paper to Tony once he’d ripped it out.

“This is your first check. Once you sign that agreement, I’ll set something up with the bank.”

He turned toward the door, only stopping to sigh once again before turning to look at Tony and Steve. “I really do wish you had been less of a disappointment.” Then he was gone.

* * *

“Okay, Coraline. Time to shoot off your poppers and go to bed.” Tony got down on the floor with her and grabbed three party poppers from inside his jacket. He handed one to Steve, one to Coraline, and kept the third for himself.

“But I wanna stay up ‘til da New Yea!” There was a tense moment where it seemed like they were going to be dealing with a full blown hissy fit--those had thankfully been few and far between lately--but eventually she resigned herself. “Count ta ‘free, daddy,” she instructed, somberly.

“One,” Steve said, getting his hand on his string.

“Two,” Tony continued.

“FREE!”

They each set off their poppers, Steve and Tony had an honorary New Years kiss (it was only nine o’clock; there would probably be a _lot_ more kissing before the new year) and Cora giggled and tore the confetti to shreds.

“Dibs on putting her down so you have to clean up the mess!” Tony shouted, scooping Cora up and running into her room. She giggled and kicked wildly. Tony had never loved a person (who wasn’t Steve) as much as he loved Coraline. This little girl was going to be the end of him.

“Ony?”

“Yeah nugget?” he asked, smoothing down her hair after she crawled into her covers.

“Are ya gonna leave ‘gain.”

Tony felt a familiar weight in his gut--the same weight that came about whenever Coraline brought up his absence. “I hope not, baby girl.”

She yawned, clearly exhausted from being up two hours past her bedtime. “Ya gotta _promise_ , Ony.”

“I promise that I will stay here with you and daddy as long as you will both let me.”

That answer seemed to please her, as she rolled over, popped her thumb in her mouth, and fell asleep.

“Goodnight Corabelle,” he whispered, kissing her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this is a little note from Clementine. Both Emily and I are going to be hella busy the next few weeks, so this'll be the last chapter for awhile. I'm moving back to school and I'm going to have to get used to my new classes, dance auditions, choreographing for dance, and a billion other things. Then it's my birthday and blah blah blah. So, yeah. This one'll have to last you for awhile.
> 
> On another note, [these monstrosities](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/be/f8/c2/bef8c2728c66a88c144578847f6d16f0.jpg) are the boots Cora wanted:


End file.
